The Executive Yuan yesterday approved draft bills to pave the way for the establishment of a ministry of digital development, which would be tasked with boosting cybersecurity and accelerating the nation’s digital transformation.
The bills include amendments to the Organizational Act of the Executive Yuan (行政院組織法) and proposed laws on the establishment of the ministry and its affiliates, which are to be forwarded for legislative review.
The proposed ministry would focus on telecommunications, information technology, cybersecurity, the Internet and media communications, Executive Yuan spokesman Lo Ping-cheng (羅秉成) quoted Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) as saying at a regular Cabinet meeting yesterday morning.
Photo: CNA
Minister Without Portfolio Kuo Yau-hwang (郭耀煌), who oversees technological policy, has been tapped as the convener of the ministry’s preparatory office, Lo said.
The creation of a digital development ministry was part of President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) campaign promise and a policy that is favored by the nation’s entrepreneurs.
Kuo said the Executive Yuan expects the office to complete the preparatory work in six to 12 months, allowing the ministry to start operating in the first quarter of next year at the earliest.
The ministry would focus on the development of the software and digital service industries, upgrading small and medium-sized enterprises, and traditional industries, and creating a globally competitive and innovative base in digital technologies, he said.
A cybersecurity bureau and national cybersecurity research institute are to be established under the ministry’s aegis, he said.
The ministry would also be tasked with overseeing interdepartmental coordination on cybersecurity and efforts to foster a domestic cybersecurity technology sector, he said.
The Executive Yuan also approved amendments to redesignate the Ministry of Science and Technology into the National Science and Technology Council.
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