MODA works with tech giants on AI talent cultivation

Taipei, Sept. 1 (CNA) The Ministry of Digital Affairs (MODA) said Monday it is working with foreign tech giants such as Qualcomm Technologies Inc., Microsoft Corp., IBM and Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) to cultivate talent for artificial intelligence development in Taiwan.

Speaking at a news conference, Lin Jiunn-shiow (林俊秀), director-general of MODA's Administration of Digital Industries, said these international partners will introduce the latest AI tools to Taiwan to help Taiwanese developers enlarge their talent pool and upgrade AI technologies.

"Taiwan stood on the shoulders of giants to develop hardware in the past," Lin said, referring to the country's international partners. "Today, we are adopting similar measures to steam ahead with AI software and technology development in the wake of the boom created by the AI era as we recognize talent is the foundation of AI infrastructure."

Echoing Lin, ST Liew (劉思泰), vice president of Qualcomm and president of Qualcomm Taiwan and South East Asia, Australia, New Zealand, said at the same news conference that generative AI has sparked a sea change in every walk of life across the world and led to an upgrade of technologies.

AI has not only stirred up competition in technology development but also created tremendous business opportunities so how to cultivate sufficient talent is critical for Taiwan to compete in the AI era, Liew said.

Economies of scale in AI development is expected to lead to success in the AI age with both the public and private sectors playing a major role in the process. "We hope Taiwan is not only a semiconductor island but also an AI island," he added.

Sean Pien (卞志祥), general manager of Microsoft Taiwan, said since 2020, Microsoft Taiwan has launched a campaign of digital talent cultivation in the country and the efforts have cultivated about 200,000 professionals as of its third year.

However, Pien admitted with the digital era transforming into an AI era, talent cultivation efforts failed to meet demand from industries, adding talent cultivation is the first step in the AI era.

In addition to AI talent cultivation, Nelson Lee (李正屹), general manager of IBM Taiwan, said enterprises now have to become "AI ready" in a wide range of fields including culture, governance and technology platforms to pursue higher returns.

Lin Chien-cheng (林建誠), senior vice general manager of AMD Taiwan, said the company has launched diversified and open AI development platforms to allow industries to find an appropriate way to develop AI suitable to them.

Meanwhile, local AI innovation social media such as Apache Taipei, GitHub Star and Wordpress and idealNCU have also teamed up with MODA in AI talent and technology development.

According to MODA, Apache Taipei will set up a new branch in October to cultivate open source software engineers in Taiwan in a bid to forge close links between Taiwan's open source groups and their international counterparts.