Taiwan has long moved into its innovation-driven economic phase, with AI technology smoothly entering people’s lives and companies like Google and Microsoft investing in the software division, seizing the moment of Taiwan becoming a global tech hub. Taiwan’s extensive pool of highly educated engineering talents, reasonable wages and fresh start up scene makes it a prime candidate for such giant tech companies. The government’s recent focus on 4.0 industry has finally shown bright results.
More than ever, during the Covid-19 period, citizens made ample use of digital technology. Taiwan’s regularly upgraded so-called ‘Name-Based Mask Distribution System’ – an allocation system for face masks that shows the public where there is immediate purchase availability, while monitoring supplies and securing future stock – has become a model app to imitate. Extensive growth in e-commerce and online fitness has also tested the limits of connectivity, but the country’s tech abilities came out on top.
As businesses are starting to get back into full swing, Taiwan is faced with a unique opportunity to continue being a worldwide beacon. Advanced technology provided through government initiatives like the “AI Innovation Hub”, which helped develop approximately 100 companies, is expected to deliver valuable additions in the medical device industry. With the introduction of 5G and IoT, the scope of telemedicine will be further expanded, and remote medical treatment and care are expected to grow at a faster pace in the post-epidemic era. Taiwan-based hardware giants Foxconn and Quanta Computer, for example, have expanded their businesses into digital health and artificial-intelligence applications. Taiwan will certainly have a leading role in this.
ICCA’s First Ever Hybrid Congress
The power of the meetings industry to bring people and ideas together has become even more evident in the last few months, overcoming travelling and social distancing restrictions. In this case, too, technology gave the solution. Virtual and hybrid meetings of all sorts are suddenly common practice, taking innovative technological applications to a whole new level. Taiwan plans to use its ranking 4th in terms of number of events in Asia in 2019 (according to the International Congress and Convention Association statistics) to its advantage and recover for lost time in the second half of the year, both with physical and virtual events.
Taking into consideration Taiwan’s successful epidemic control efforts and counting on the country’s impressive recent use of AI, ICCA has announced that it will go ahead with its planned annual congress, which is set to take place on 1-4 November in Kaohsiung, the harbor city and southern economic center of Taiwan. ICCA is now preparing for its first ever hybrid congress, consisting of a face-to-face educational programme and facilitated debate around the current situation combined with an online link to other member gatherings across the globe over the same dateline. The 2020 ICCA Congress in Kaohsiung will be a steppingstone for the future of association meetings, and welcome to register!
Taiwan is moving to the next phase, preparing actively to provide a safe and financially appealing environment for business events. The government has announced several subsidies for the meetings sector, such as implementing travel incentives to woo international visitors and relaxing subsidy application requirements for business events organisers. The road to recovery from the virus is wide open and Taiwan’s tech scene is lighting the way.
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