The government plans to invest NT$36 billion (US$1.13 billion) over five years to build the foundations for southern Taiwan to become the next big technological center, National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) Minister Wu Cheng-wen (吳誠文) said yesterday.
President William Lai (賴清德), as part of his election campaign platform, proposed to “balance” development in Taiwan and make the nation a bastion of artificial intelligence (AI) technology, the council said.
The ministry’s proposed plan would start from next year to 2029, with NT$12 billion to be invested in increasing computation capacity, NT$17 billion building facilities and sites, and NT$7 billion in attracting talent and developing AI technology applications.
Photo: Wu Po-hsuan, Taipei Times
Wu said he hoped the project would grow relevant industries’ value 10-fold by the time of the project’s conclusion.
Wu emphasized that the government would provide stable power for the project, adding that the Ministry of Economic Affairs would be involved in the decisionmaking process.
NSTC Vice Minister Su Chen-kang (蘇振綱) said the project would focus on Tainan’s Shalun Township (沙崙), which already houses the Executive Yuan’s Cyber Security & Smart Technology Research & Development Building — a test site for innovative technology — Academia Sinica’s southern branch and the Green Energy Technology Demonstration Site.
Shalun would serve as the nation’s development center for the AI industry, and when combined with the S-shaped semiconductor corridor policy, and policies to build up infrastructure in the Chiayi, Ciaotou and Pingtung science parks, it would make southern Taiwan a technological center, he said.
Making southern Taiwan a technological center would help systemically integrate different industries while creating a nation with balanced development, he added.
The project would also encourage 5,400 teachers across 15 vocational schools in southern Taiwan to develop different specialties and help educate 160,000 students, increasing their competitive edge and motivation to work, Su said.
Talent-fostering platforms and centers would attract AI-related workers to Shalun, which would ultimately help feed the talent pool when industries in southern Taiwan digitize, he said.
This would help concentrate talent, information and energy in the south, allowing the region to develop key industries such as information and communications techonology, defense, metal processing, automotive components, clean energy, smart farming, and healthcare and medicine, he said.
An NSTC official commenting on condition of anonymity said that the government’s total computation capacity stands at about 19 petaflops, and the project, alongside the Taiwan Chip-based Industrial Innovation Program, is expected to grow governmental computation capacity to 480 petaflops by 2028.
The S-shaped corridor policy is centered in Kaohsiung’s Nanzih District (楠梓), serving to connect manufacturers in Lujhu (路竹) and Ciaotou (橋頭) districts to the Tainan Science Park and also extends southward to Dashe (大社), Renwu (仁武), Daliao (大寮), Linyuan (林園) and Siaogang (小港) districts, forming a concentration of semiconductor-related industries.
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
RSS