The Ministry of Digital Affairs yesterday said it is partnering with global technology giants such as Qualcomm Technologies Inc, Microsoft Corp, IBM and Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) to cultivate artificial intelligence (AI) talent in Taiwan.
Administration for Digital Industries Director-General Lin Jiunn-shiow (林俊秀) told a news conference that the ministry’s international partners would introduce the latest AI tools to Taiwan, helping local developers expand their skills and advance the nation’s AI capabilities.
“Taiwan stood on the shoulders of giants to develop its hardware industry,” Lin said, referring to the country’s collaboration with foreign firms. “Today, we are taking a similar approach to accelerate AI software and technology development in response to the boom of the AI era, as we recognize that talent is the cornerstone of AI infrastructure.”
Photo: CNA
S.T. Liew (劉思泰), vice president of Qualcomm and president of Qualcomm Taiwan and South East Asia, Australia and New Zealand, said at the event that generative AI has brought sweeping change worldwide and driven rapid technological upgrades.
AI has not only intensified competition in innovation, but also created tremendous business opportunities, he said, adding that cultivating sufficient talent is essential for Taiwan to compete in the AI era.
Economies of scale in AI development are expected to drive success in the new era, with the public and private sectors playing central roles, Liew said.
“We hope Taiwan would not only be a semiconductor island, but also an AI island,” he said.
Microsoft Taiwan general manager Sean Pien (卞志祥) said that since 2020, the company has run a digital talent cultivation program in Taiwan, training about 200,000 professionals over three years.
However, as the digital era shifts into the AI era, demand from industry continues to outpace supply, he said, adding that talent cultivation is the first step to compete in the AI era.
IBM Taiwan general manager Nelson Lee (李正屹) said enterprises must not only nurture AI talent, but also become “AI ready” across areas such as corporate culture, governance and technology platforms to achieve higher returns.
AMD Taiwan senior vice general manager Lin Chien-cheng (林建誠) said the company has launched diverse and open AI development platforms to give industries the flexibility to build AI systems suited to their needs.
Local AI communities — including Apache Taipei, GitHub Star, WordPress and idealNCU — have also teamed up with the ministry in AI talent and technology development.
Apache Taipei is to establish a new branch next month to train open-source software engineers in Taiwan, and strengthen links between the nation’s open-source groups and their global counterparts, the ministry said.
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