Cabinet names 4 new NCC commissioner candidates

Taipei, July 31 (CNA) The Executive Yuan on Thursday nominated four new people to serve as commissioners of the National Communications Commission (NCC), pending approval from lawmakers.

At a news conference, Cabinet spokesperson Michelle Lee (李慧芝) said the nominees -- Chiang Jung-hsien (蔣榮先), Cherng Ming-shiou (程明修), Huang Wei-wei (黃葳威), and Lo Huei-wen (羅慧雯) -- possess expertise in fields such as information technology, law, and communications.

It is hoped that the Legislative Yuan can review the nominations as soon as possible in order to ensure the NCC's smooth operations, Lee added.

Chiang was named to serve as the commission's new chief, with Cherng its vice chairperson.

According to the Cabinet, Chiang is a professor at National Cheng Kung University's Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering.

He specializes in fields such as artificial intelligence, information security, healthcare, and big data analysis, and is not affiliated with any political party, it said.

Meanwhile, Cherng is a law professor at Soochow University specializing in economic administrative law, regulatory theory, constitutional litigation and information rights. He is also affiliated with the Kuomintang (KMT).

The two other female nominees -- Huang and Lo -- currently teach at National Chengchi University and Shih Hsin University, respectively, and are both nonpartisan, the Cabinet said.

The Cabinet added that the pair share similar expertise in the field of communications.

The NCC is an independent statutory agency under the Executive Yuan and is responsible for regulating the development of the telecommunication and broadcasting industries, promoting competition and consumer protection, regulating licensing, radio frequency and spectrum, programming content, communications standards and specifications in Taiwan.

The seven-member NCC currently consists of only three commissioners: Chen Chung-shu (陳崇樹), who is also its acting chairperson, Wang Jiang-jia (王正嘉) and Wang Yi-hui (王怡惠).