Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun said March 10 that the government is committed to working with industries and civic society to advance data openness and collaboration to build an innovative, sustainable and resilient future.
Cheng made the remarks while attending an awards presentation ceremony held by the Ministry of Digital Affairs praising outstanding ministries and agencies for implementing data openness in Taipei City.
Data openness is the cornerstone in innovative government services, Cheng said, adding that through cooperation with academia, businesses and other institutions, data can be transformed into high-value services to enhance smart governance and national competitiveness.
The vice premier went on to cite the Executive Yuan’s Smart Taiwan 2.0 plan, which involves drafting laws for data governance, transiting from data openness to data collaboration, building a sovereign artificial intelligence training corpus and enhancing data evidence-based decision making, adding that the plan will help optimize public services and boost industrial development.
Also speaking at the event, MODA Minister Huang Yen-nun said that data openness is key to developing AI technologies and stressed the importance of government open data in applied areas spanning climate predictions, health and medical care, social welfare and transportation.
According to the MODA, there are over 50,000 datasets accessible on its open data website (data.gov.tw), with topics spanning culture, geography, history and linguistics, among others. The ministry will encourage authorities to release Mandarin-based materials including policy plans and reports to ensure Taiwan’s AI development has local cultural characteristics, he added.
Cheng and Huang also jointly presented data openness awards to authorities who achieved high quality and popularity. Winners of high quality recognition included the Ministry of Economic Affairs, who revealed annual data on power generation to enhance energy policy transparency, while the Ministry of Environment’s air quality index was one of the popularity recipients. (YCH-E)