Consistent with its policy of internationalization, the government has been taking extraordinary steps to promote general computer literacy, seeing the move as essential to national strength in the international marketplace.
One measure of the government's success in raising public awareness came in December of last year when the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Institute for Information Industry helped sponsor "information Month '87." The exhibits, programs, and seminars attracted widespread attention, and introduced thousands of people to the latest in communications technology.
The event not only demonstrated the growing public interest in the roles of computer technology throughout society, it also illustrated once again the key role the Institute for information Industry is playing in the ROC's moves toward becoming a cutting-edge "information society."
The annual "Information Week," begun eight years ago, has for the last four years expanded into a month-long promotion of "Third Wave" awareness of life in the "information society." The most recent event stimulated especially enthusiastic public interest thanks to seven local computer firms that donated a total of 584 computer terminals and related software for a "Hands-on Computer Fair" at the World Trade Center Exhibition Building. As a result, the Center's exhibition hall was jammed throughout the month, as thousands of people had their first opportunity to try the new technology for themselves.
A personal computer costs slightly more than US$1,000 in Taiwan, so the local firms invested a healthy sum in their computer display. But the public response to the exhibit indicated that the PC market horizon is bright indeed. People's curiosity overcame their' fears, and computer literacy took some giant steps forward.
Subtitled "Moving toward an Information Society," the Information Month displays drew over 230,000 people to the World Trade Center. Its success put to rest earlier criticisms that the annual event was "too plebeian" and not professional enough. The organizers of the month-long activities disagreed, recognizing that public understanding and support is necessary before the ROC can develop the sort of information industry it wants.
This theme was emphasized by Lee Ta-hai, Minister of Economic Affairs, when he opened the first day of Information Month activities. In his speech to the public, he quoted Alvin Toffler's prophecy in The Third Wave that the third manufacturing revolution is well underway in Taiwan, with the "information society" gradually replacing agricultural and industrial societies. This worldwide shift in economic orientation will have far-reaching impact on Taiwan's own economic structure and product map.
The term "information society" was first coined by the Japanese in the late 1960s, and came about following the rapid development of electric calculators in the late 1940s, which in turn induced the invention of computers and culminated in a world-wide communication revolution. By the time the computer was selected in 1982 as Time magazine's "Machine of the Year," it was clear that a new force was penetrating and transforming all world societies.
ROC Vice Premier Lien Chan (3rd from right) and Minister Without Portfolio K.T. Li (4th from right) attend the exhibits, illustrating strong government support for a high-tech future.
The ROC's move toward becoming an information society is rather late compared with more developed countries, although it is a relatively new direction for all nations. For example, at the beginning of this century, information products constituted only 10 percent of the GNP in the U.S. The situation changed dramatically in the 1950s when they surged to 30 percent as agriculture plummeted from 35 to 10 percent. By the 1960s, information products took the lead in GNP, and in the 1980s the production mapping for the U.S. is 5 percent for agriculture, 20 percent for industry, 30 percent for services, and 45 percent for information products.
This is remarkable change in a very short time, for the invention of the world's first computer came only in 1946. Only some fifteen years later did the ROC see its first educational computer, which was donated by the United Nations to National Chiaotung University. Before the 1970s, the ROC's domestic information industry was insignificant. With the coming of the 1980s, however, came an epochal boost in computer development. At this time, the government designated the information industry as a "strategic industry." According to recent statistics, information products accounted for only 5 percent of the ROC's electronic products in 1982; by 1983 their market share increased to 11 percent when electronic goods reached a production value of US$4.8 billion, surpassing textiles to become the ROC's leading export product.
Subsequent years have seen a steady growth in domestic production of information products. They constituted 19 percent of all the electronic products in 1984, 25 percent in 1985, and 29 percent in 1986. In terms of production value, the ROC's information industry occupied 0.96 percent of the world market in 1985, and 1.45 percent in 1986, for a total of US$2.1 billion, which is more than double of that of Hong Kong and South Korea.
Despite the sharp appreciation of the New Taiwan dollar (NT$), which makes ROC products more expensive abroad, exports of information products in 1987 totaled more than US$3.5 billion, up 70 percent from 1986. By 1986 the ROC's information industry production value was ranked seventh in the world, just behind the U.S., Japan, Germany, U.K., France, and Italy. The industry is estimated to exceed 2 percent of the world's market share in 1989, and the ROC should replace Italy to become the world's sixth most important information country by 1992.
Given the growing importance of computers in all aspects of life, the government turned to an organization characterized by its far-sighted thinking to set up the annual Information Month activities: the Institute for Information Industry. A quasi-governmental organization, which in this case worked closely with the Ministry of Economic Affairs in arranging the events, the Institute was formed as a corporate body in 1979 at the direction of the Executive Yuan. It is composed of members from government, academe, and private enterprises, and has a general mandate to accelerate the development of the ROC's information industry.
Chang Kwang-shih, then Minister of Economic Affairs, clearly stated the mission of the new organization at its incorporation: (1) to provide government and industry with reports and suggestions regarding the development of a national information industry, including assisting the government in developing short-, mid-, and long-term technological projects; (2) to provide services to government agencies and private enterprises in their moves to computerization; (3) to train computer and administrative personnel; (4) to introduce technical knowledge in software designs; (5) to collaborate with the Industrial Technology Research Institute in undertaking research and promoting domestic computer products; and (6) to help bring a new dimension to the ROC's industrial stratification.
The decision to make the Institute a separate corporate body instead of another division of government has already proven beneficial, as it is less constrained by the inevitable governmental red tape. The initial conception of the Institute was inspired by the Japan Information Processing Development Center with which it has subsequently established a bilateral information exchange agreement. Financially, the Institute relies on the government's technological "project fund" as well as donations from the private sector.
The Institute has 42 members on its Board of Directors and Supervisors: 6 from government agencies, 29 from private business, and 7 from academe. The chairman of the Board of Directors is Wang Chao-ming, who is concurrently Vice Chairman of the Council for Economic Planning and Development. The President is Dr. Irving T. Ho, who was previously Vice Chairman of the National Science Council.
The Institute has divisions for technology research, product development, systems engineering, education and training, promotion and services, and administration, plus a planning and evaluation office, a computer center, and a market intelligence center. When it was first established, the Institute had a staff of only 20; by the first of July 1987, it had grown to 511, 78 percent of whom are computer professionals. About half of the staff possess advanced degrees. The average employee age is just over 30.
During the eight years of its short history, the Institute has already compiled an enviable record of distinguished achievements, assisting government and private sector alike in building a more robust and professional information industry.
One of the Institute's most progressive divisions is focused on office automation. The Institute established its "OA" unit in July 1983 in order to implement an Office Automation Demonstration and Promotion Project commissioned by the Ministry of Economic Affairs. Together with the Electronic Data Processing Center (under the Directorate General of Budget Accounting & Statistics, Executive Yuan), the Institute conducted an opinion poll to determine the general orientation toward office automation in March 1984, then took steps to meet domestic requirements.
In the same year, the Institute established the first complete "conversational online data administrative system" in the ROC. Beyond internal use, the Institute offers the system to a broad range of government agencies, public enterprises, and private businesses. The Institute also provides overall Electronic Data Processing (EDP) planning and consultancy services for numerous governmental bureaus and private sector corporations.
After the Institute completed software development for the "electronic office," as envisaged by Toffler in The Third Wove, the Institute handed the technology over to Sertek International Inc. for commercial promotion in April 1987.
The Institute has published numerous OA-related books and has hosted seminars to promote revolutionizing office procedures. The Institute's own library is itself a model of computerized support services. The head librarian, Huang Wan-hua, sums up some characteristics of the library: "Computerization is the spirit. We purchase data bases from abroad, and the library has installed microfilm and microfiche readers for reading them. Besides, we have also established links with such information stocks as DIALOG, DATA STAR and NEWNET on our personal computers." Although the Institute's library was established less than two years ago, its holdings of production reports relating to information industry is one of the most complete in Taiwan.
Callers in Taipei and Kaohsiung are linked by both telephone and screen to demonstrate new ROC telecommunications products.
In order to supply the latest data on information-field developments, the Institute set up its Market Intelligence Center in 1984, linking its operations closely with the Industrial Development Bureau of the Ministry of Economic Affairs. Through this division, it collects information industry intelligence both from home and abroad, analyzes trends, and supplies the technological and market information for the government's use in formulating its related policies and programs.
Since 1985, the Center has been collaborating with U.S.-based Arthur D. Little Inc. on a contract basis. Their joint efforts focus on (1) analyzing current and future trends in the world's information industry; (2) evaluating the ROC's current information industry status; (3) assisting in the structuring of the ROC's information industry and control system; and (4) selecting high priority items for development in the domestic industry, and providing market analysis and research on the feasibility of related foreign investment.
In another of its divisions, the Institute is tackling the key problem of man power training. Its Education and Training Division implemented a five-year manpower development program, beginning in October 1983, to cultivate teachers at all school levels and to provide computer training in both public and private sector offices.
The program was commissioned by the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the National Youth Commission, and the Central Personnel Administration. The broad government support indicates the high priority given to upgrading computer literacy throughout the island. The program is composed of long-term classes (6-8 months) and short-term seminars (1-2 months), and offers important "change-of-profession" training (6 months) for non-professional university and college graduates. With the assistance of IBM, the division also runs the Software Engineering Institute, designed exclusively for computer professionals.
This division of the Institute also conducts annual qualifying examinations for information professionals and compiles teaching materials in such subjects as programming techniques, structural analysis, structural design, and computer-aided instruction. Generally speaking, it acts as the key educational support channel for computer education in the ROC.
The Institute is equally concerned with educating the non-professional public in the usefulness of communications technology. Its Promotion and Service Division is tasked with the major responsibilities in this area, and the sponsorship of Information Month activities falls within its mandate.
Information Month has its roots in a modest project commissioned by the Ministry of Economic Affairs back in 1980. Then called "Information Week," it was geared more for information professionals in the public and private sectors, and only involved the general public indirectly. Times have changed, of course, and now information technology is of universal importance. The greater scope of Information Month is a calculated response to new realities in the marketplace.
Besides the "Information Month '87" displays at the World Trade Center, the Institute sponsored other promotional functions, including public speeches and seminars, and it broadcast short educational films on all three TV channels each evening during the month.
The division also collaborated with the Government Information Office and the Ministry of Education in putting together a 15-episode series for educational TV that described the impact of modern communications technology on modern societies. According to Chester C.A. Lee, who is the acting director of the division, the series was so successful that a second series is now in preparation.
This division is also the main publications section of the Institute, covering such subjects as office automation, information products, and computers. In addition, it publishes two periodicals directly connected with the information business-the monthly magazine Information and Computer, and The ROC Information Industry Yearbook. "In these publications, the Institute publicizes new trends in the information industry and markets, and it presents recent government measures concerning the development or the industry," Lee says.
One of the division's most important functions is to link domestic information experts and organizations with colleagues around the world. For example, it acts in close association with the Software Industry Association or the ROC and the Taipei Computer Association as well as with such prominent foreign organizations as the Japan Information Processing Development Center, Japan's Center or International Cooperation for Computerization, the Institute or Electrical and Electronics Engineers in the U.S., Singapore's National Computer Board, and the King Abdulasis City for Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia.
An exciting recent development is the Institute's progress in developing Chinese language computers—and those capable or bilingual applications. The Institute's Product Development Division has attracted considerable attention in this field. The division has developed and implemented 24x24 and 32x32 Chinese character font sets, and has implemented a standard exchange code for those Chinese characters most frequently used in texts. Other recent developments include a Chinese printed character recognition system, a Chinese speech output system (text-to-speech), and a speech recognition system. This particular field has great promise for widespread marketability.
As the theme Moving toward an Information Society during Information Month '87 well demonstrates, the ROC is not only starting to ride the Third Wave, it is also helping to shape and direct it. As the ROC produces more or the world's communications technology and products, it will transform not only its own industrial structure, but also the very lire or its citizens. And at the heart or the new directions in the information age will be continuing government support through such effective organizations as the Institute for Information Industry.