The Executive Yuan is expected to soon approve the establishment of the Ministry of Digital Development as part of its organizational reform plan, sources said on Saturday.
The role and function of the new ministry has attracted attention, as its main duties would involve digital industry development, Internet supervision and cybersecurity.
The Executive Yuan plans to merge the Department of Cyber Security with the ministry, as well as shift the National Communications Commission’s Internet supervision and digital streaming oversight to the new agency, sources said.
Once President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) approve the plan, following discussion with Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers, the Cabinet would submit draft amendments, which include modifications to five other agencies, for approval before sending them to the legislature for review, they said.
The Ministry of Science and Technology is also to transform into a commission, with some of its duties to be merged into the new ministry, an Executive Yuan official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
An amendment to the Organizational Act of the Executive Yuan (行政院組織法), which passed a third reading at the Legislative Yuan in 2010, stipulated that the 37 agencies under the Cabinet be reduced to 29, a process that began in 2012.
Five agencies have still not completed their organizational reform, namely the Council of Agriculture, which is to become the Ministry of Agriculture, and the Environmental Protection Administration, which is to become the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, the sources said.
In addition, a new National Parks Administration is to be created as part of the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications is to become the Ministry of Transportation and Construction, and the Ministry of Economic Affairs is to become the Ministry of Economic and Energy Affairs, they said.
Su has participated in the integration process, arranging report sessions to listen to the five agencies’ plans, and the Executive Yuan hopes to submit the drafted amendments to complete the restructuring within the current legislative session, the said.
A strong continental cold air mass is to bring pollutants to Taiwan from tomorrow, the Ministry of Environment said today, as it issued an “orange” air quality alert for most of the country. All of Taiwan except for Hualien and Taitung counties is to be under an “orange” air quality alert tomorrow, indicating air quality that is unhealthy for sensitive groups. In China, areas from Shandong to Shanghai have been enveloped in haze since Saturday, the ministry said in a news release. Yesterday, hourly concentrations of PM2.5 in these areas ranged from 65 to 160 micrograms per cubic meter (mg/m³), and pollutants were
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The New Taipei City Social Welfare Department on Thursday celebrated Paralympic competitor Chen Tzu-wei (張孜維), who received last year’s national Golden Eagle award for exemplary achievement by Taiwanese with disabilities. Chen, who suffers from childhood-onset muscular dystrophy, did not attend the first award ceremony held by the Ministry of Health and Welfare in November due to illness. Chen was formally presented with the award at the department, where he gave thanks to government workers for supporting his education and livelihood, the department said in a statement. Chen was raised by the Ai-hsin Home for Persons with Disabilities in the city’s Bali District (八里)
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