The government is to allocate NT$1.8 billion (US$56.4 million) over the next four years to build basic digital infrastructure for “digital twins” technology applications, the Cabinet said on Thursday.
The program aims to attract overall investment of NT$2 billion to boost the tourism, culture, entertainment and gaming sectors, and close the “digital gap” between rural and urban centers by encouraging local governments to collaborate with the private sector, Ministry of Digital Affairs officials told a news conference.
The Cabinet on May 31 announced a roadmap for the Asia Silicon Valley Development Plan 3.0 in response to growth of generative artificial intelligence (AI), 5G and satellite telecommunication, and to help Taiwanese industry meet the twin challenges of transitioning to digital and net zero business models, ministry officials said.
Photo courtesy of the Executive Yuan
The program for “digital twin” applications is among the efforts to build up the needed basic infrastructure at the local level, they said.
Implementing the digital twins program would boost innovation and growth for Taiwan’s entertainment, e-commerce, e-learning, sports technology, tourism, culture and entertainment sectors, and elevate the competitiveness of local digital business sectors, the ministry said.
“In the past, most public project budgets were spent on building and hardware projects. For the digital twins program, we have taken examples from other countries,” officials said.
They cited Japan’s Virtual Shibuya, the Assassin’s Creed Unity video game developed by French-Canadian game developer Ubisoft Montreal, and South Korea’s “Virtual Seoul” platform.
Under the new program, for the first time the government would have public project budgets for developing software, 3D modeling, online networks and related digital technologies, and to build up the nation’s digital content library, officials said.
Administration for Digital Industries Deputy Director-General Lin Chun-hsiu (林俊秀) said in other countries 3D modeling and software development are joint ventures between the public and private sectors.
After a while these become available for commercial use and innovative applications for concerts, large-scale e-gaming competitions, e-commerce platforms, sports technology, online learning, tourism, culture and entertainment, he said.
“In the future, these can be applied for immersive cultural and historic heritage exhibitions, 5G mobile connection, 3D modeling, augmented reality and generative AI. It would facilitate more interactive experiences,” he said.
“The applications can be used to create landscape and props for gaming and virtual concerts. They would reduce expenses and allow government agencies to implement new projects more quickly,” Lin said.
He said the new digital twins program would bring about NT$4.5 billion of economic benefits via 14 infrastructure projects across the nation.
Twenty-six specially designated digital 3D model sites would be used, and 56 firms are estimated to invest, he said, adding that more than 40 new digital applications are expected to be produced.
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