Taiwan is an excellent partner for Australia on cybersecurity issues, Australian Ambassador for Cyber Affairs and Critical Technology Brendan Dowling said on Monday.
Dowling made the remarks during the Sydney Dialogue, an annual policy summit hosted by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.
This year, a Taiwanese delegation led by National Security Council adviser Lee Yuh-jye (李育杰) attended the event focusing on cybersecurity and emerging technology issues.
Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
The summit featured industry experts, government officials and academics from 30 countries — including Taiwan, Australia, Japan, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Singapore, Tonga, the UK and the US. Discussions centered on topics such as artificial intelligence (AI) development, hybrid threat management, digital infrastructure in the Indo-Pacific region, economic resilience, digital innovation, democracy and disinformation.
As part of a session on designing technology for democracy, Lee and Dowling had an in-depth conversation on Taiwan’s position in AI supply chains and how to use technology to protect democracies from threats such as disinformation.
Dowling called Taiwan an excellent partner for Australia when it comes to cybersecurity issues due to its democracy, as well as its insistence that “cybersecurity is national security” amid a tense geopolitical environment.
Lee said that although The Economist has called Taiwan the “most dangerous place on Earth,” the country’s democracy has become more resilient in the face of wide-ranging threats, from natural disasters to incessant cyberattacks.
He also discussed how Taiwan’s tech industry prioritizes human rights in real-world applications, such as how social distancing apps deployed during the COVID-19 pandemic sought to protect user privacy.
Taiwan is also a vital link in AI, with key industry players such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co and Quanta Computer Inc, he said, adding that “Taiwan” cannot be spelled without “AI.”
Every country needs its own AI infrastructure, and cannot rely on others, Lee said, citing ChatGPT’s use of simplified Chinese characters and Baidu’s Ernie Bot as potential national security risks to Taiwan.
China could use AI programs to better understand Taiwan or leverage algorithms to influence Taiwanese society, he said.
Taiwan has developed its own large-scale language model, the Trustworthy AI Dialogue Engine, he said.
To achieve AI sovereignty, Taiwan would continue to promote educational and technological initiatives, increasing its democratic resilience, he said.
Representative to Australia Douglas Hsu (徐佑典), Ministry of Digital Affairs Deputy Director for Cyber Security Cheng Shin-ming (鄭欣明), National Institute of Cyber Security Vice President Lin Ying-dar (林盈達) and Director of Cybersecurity Technology at the Institute for Information Industry Mattel Hsu (許建榮) also attended.
Considering that most countries issue more than five denominations of banknotes, the central bank has decided to redesign all five denominations, the bank said as it prepares for the first major overhaul of the banknotes in more than 24 years. Central bank Governor Yang Chin-lung (楊金龍) is expected to report to the Legislative Yuan today on the bank’s operations and the redesign’s progress. The bank in a report sent to the legislature ahead of today’s meeting said it had commissioned a survey on the public’s preferences. Survey results showed that NT$100 and NT$1,000 banknotes are the most commonly used, while NT$200 and NT$2,000
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday reported the first case of a new COVID-19 subvariant — BA.3.2 — in a 10-year-old Singaporean girl who had a fever upon arrival in Taiwan and tested positive for the disease. The girl left Taiwan on March 20 and the case did not have a direct impact on the local community, it said. The WHO added the BA.3.2 strain to its list of Variants Under Monitoring in December last year, but this was the first imported case of the COVID-19 variant in Taiwan, CDC Deputy Director-General Lin Ming-cheng (林明誠) said. The girl arrived in Taiwan on
ANNUAL EVENT: Two massive Pokemon balloons are to be set up in Daan Park, with an event zone operating from 10am to 6pm This year’s Taipei Floral Picnic is to be held at Daan Park today and tomorrow, featuring an exclusive Pokemon Go event, a themed food market, a coffee rave picnic area and stage performances, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said yesterday. Two massive Pokemon balloons are to be set up in the park as attractions, with an exclusive event zone operating from 10am to 6pm, it said. Participants who complete designated tasks on-site would have a chance to receive limited-edition souvenirs, it added. People could also try the newly launched game Pokemon Pokopia in the trial area, the department said. Three PokeStops are
South Korea is planning to revise its controversial electronic arrival card, a step Taiwanese officials said prompted them to hold off on planned retaliatory measures, a South Korean media report said yesterday. A Yonhap News Agency report said that the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs is planning to remove the “previous departure place” and “next destination” fields from its e-arrival card system. The plan, reached after interagency consultations, is under review and aims to simplify entry procedures and align the electronic form with the paper version, a South Korean ministry official said. The fields — which appeared only on the electronic form
RSS