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.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
The first bluefin tuna of the season, brought to shore in Pingtung County and weighing 190kg, was yesterday auctioned for NT$10,600 (US$333.5) per kilogram, setting a record high for the local market. The auction was held at the fish market in Donggang Fishing Harbor, where the Siaoliouciou Island-registered fishing vessel Fu Yu Ching No. 2 delivered the “Pingtung First Tuna” it had caught for bidding. Bidding was intense, and the tuna was ultimately jointly purchased by a local restaurant and a local company for NT$10,600 per kilogram — NT$300 ,more than last year — for a total of NT$2.014 million. The 67-year-old skipper
BREACH OF CONTRACT: The bus operators would seek compensation and have demanded that the manufacturer replace the chips with ones that meet regulations Two bus operators found to be using buses with China-made chips are to demand that the original manufacturers replace the systems and provide compensation for breach of contract, the Veterans Affairs Council said yesterday. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) yesterday said that Da Nan Bus Co and Shin-Shin Bus Co Ltd have fielded a total of 82 buses that are using Chinese chips. The bus models were made by Tron-E, while the systems provider was CYE Electronics, Lin said. Lin alleged that the buses were using chips manufactured by Huawei subsidiary HiSilicon Co, which presents a national security risk if the
RSS