The Legislative Yuan on Tuesday approved the Cabinet’s plan to establish a ministry of digital development, as mapped out by President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) in her second inaugural address in May last year.
A new law passed by lawmakers to establish the new ministry states that it would be in charge of planning the nation’s digital development policies in response to the political and economic challenges created by a rapidly evolving digital world.
The Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) would become a ministry-level council, while related operations overseen by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications and the National Communications Commission would be transferred to the new ministry, according to amendments to several organizational acts approved by lawmakers.
The ministry of digital development would be responsible for planning the government resources required in the fields of telecommunication and digital technology, and the infrastructure needed to promote innovation, as well as cultivating talent.
It would also be tasked with overseeing government information security, digital services and data management, as well as aiding the development of industries related to the digital economy.
Some of those tasks currently fall under the purview of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Cabinet’s Department of Cyber Security.
The plan to establish a ministry of digital development aims to speed up Taiwan’s digital transformation and improve the government’s ability to deal with cybersecurity issues, Cabinet spokesperson Lo Ping-cheng (羅秉成) said.
Minister without Portfolio Kuo Yau-hwang (郭耀煌), who heads the Cabinet’s task force on the organizational changes, would draw up a plan before the ministry is formally established, Lo added.
The MOST said that its role would in future be similar to that of the National Development Council, coordinating between ministries, industry and academia to guide software and hardware innovation in Taiwan.
It would also focus on research projects involving advanced technologies and how they can be applied commercially, it said.
The organizational changes are expected to take place in March at the earliest, but the actual implementation schedule would be determined by the Cabinet, it added.
The MOST was established in March 2014 to replace the National Science Council, which was formed in 1959.
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