Policy Basis

The president's 2020 inaugural address announced the "Program for Promoting Six Core Strategic Industries" on the basis of the "five plus two” innovative industries plan, proposing that Taiwan should continue to strengthen the development of information and digital industries by combining AI application talents, ICT and semiconductor industries, and open domains and data. With hardware pushing the economy and software pulling it forward, Taiwan will be able to gain opportunities and advantages in the next wave of smart revolution. The integration of relevant government projects with industry resources linked to the capabilities of international partners will drive Taiwan into a new stage of economic development. The same year, the "Forward-looking Program 2.0" was implemented to support the president's "Program for Promoting Six Core Strategic Industries," and leveraged the power of AI to facilitate the development of Taiwan's information and digital industries. In 2021, the Executive Yuan passed "Smart Nation Plan (2021-2025)" and included AI semiconductors in forward-looking digital technologies, hoping to seize opportunities for domestic industries in the post-pandemic era.

Furthermore, continuing the "AI Taiwan Action Plan" that was implemented in 2018, the Executive Yuan's Board of Science and Technology drafted the "Taiwan AI Action Plan 2.0" in 2022, which gradually expands policy measures from scientific research, talent, and industry to include AI ethics, society, and national security. It continues to cultivate talents and develop technology and industries with five major tasks: "Talent Optimization and Expansion," "Technological and Industrial Development," "Increasing International Influence," "Improving the Operational Environment," and "Responding to Cultural and Social Issues," gradually attaching greater importance to data governance, AI ethics legislation, and responsible AI practices. It uses AI to help solve the challenges faced by the government and society, so that all people can benefit from AI, and engage in international exchanges or cooperation to increase Taiwan's global influence in AI, hoping to ultimately realize the vision of an innovative, inclusive, and sustainable smart nation in 2030.

Transforming industry with AI and industrializing AI

Observing the development trend of the AI industry in Taiwan, domestic companies are currently mainly targeting the AI service market for cross-domain integration, manufacturing, and healthcare, and the AI projects of new and old companies are slightly different. With the continued development of AI worldwide, the AI demand of domestic industries and domestic supply of AI are still constantly interacting with each other in search of suitable innovative applications. Taiwan’s AI supply side needs to continue to search for AI technologies that are in line with international trends, while the corporate demand side also needs organizational adjustments to re-adapt to the new generation business environment. Therefore, for the two sides to create real "value," constant collision between the AI supply side and companies that need AI is still needed to stimulate innovative applications.

 

 

This project connects the development community, prototype verification, and early channels to drive the formation of potential teams for the development of solutions in various fields, in order to help domestic startup teams grow in scale. Venture capital that have long been concerned about teams developing AI technology are then invited to help the startup teams continue to grow by providing business opportunities and investment channels. On the industry demand side, the project works with associations in the field to use development mechanisms for making industries more intelligent, visits member companies to clarify AI readiness and implementation needs, jointly creates an industrial AI application blueprint, and recommends companies that are digitally advanced enough to introduce AI technology to participate in verification, in order to establish industry demonstration cases as the basis for subsequent promotion by associations in the industry. While integrating solutions that have been jointly verified by both supply and demand sides, the project will collaborate with major companies in Taiwan and overseas to increase the exposure of the capabilities of Taiwan's AI companies to provide solutions, and continue to help companies gain cross-border, cross-domain, and cross-industry exposure. Finally, it will gather together solutions of technical teams on the supply-side, application examples on the demand side, and domestic and overseas development trends in AI applications to strengthen the capabilities the AI HUB, and provide companies in all industries with AI digital transformation services or recommendations for the development of innovative business models.