The Ministry of Digital Affairs is to be launched on Aug. 27, with Minister Without Portfolio Audrey Tang (唐鳳) serving as its first minister, Executive Yuan spokesman Lo Ping-cheng (羅秉成) said yesterday.
The new ministry is to promote interdisciplinary cooperation in digital services, complete and apply the “Data for Social Good” system and facilitate technology and data democratization.
National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University associate engineering professor Chiueh Her-ming (闕河鳴) and iPass Corp chairman Lee Huai-jen (李懷仁) are to serve as political deputy ministers.
Photo: Tsung Chang-chin, Taipei Times
Tang must relinquish her minister without portfolio duties before assuming the position, Lo said, adding that her successor would be announced later.
The new ministry is to consist of the Administration for Digital Industries; the Administration for Cyber Security; the National Institute of Cyber Security, which is to be established by the end of the year; and three foundations, including the Institute for Information Industry, the Telecom Technology Center and the Taiwan Network Information Center.
The ministry is to integrate the associated services of the National Communications Commission, the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, the National Development Council and the Cabinet’s Department of Cyber Security.
Academics hope that the new ministry would help government and business build an “information security moat” against cyberattacks as tensions across the Taiwan Strait rise.
Chiang Ya-chi (江雅綺), director of the Taiwan Law and Technology Association and an associate professor at National Taiwan Ocean University’s College of Ocean Law and Policy, said that digital industries are hopeful that Tang can develop thorough strategies to guide them through digital transitions.
Taiwan should have laws similar to the EU’s Digital Markets Act and Digital Services Act, she said.
The government should set clear regulations on information security and personal information protection, as data economics is playing a greater role in business and trade, she said.
The ministry can help government agencies with digital transformation, and build a solid foundation for digital governance, Chiang said.
Such governance requires cooperation between various agencies, making communication between agencies a primary challenge for the new ministry, she added.
The Open Culture Foundation, the Taiwan Association for Human Rights, the Software Liberty Association Taiwan, the Coalition of Taiwan Civil Service Reform Drivers and Amnesty International Taiwan issued a statement last month calling on the new ministry to consider human rights while drafting its administrative plan.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by