Google’s Intelligent Taiwan project was officially unveiled March 21 in Taipei City, underscoring the U.S. internet company’s commitment to cultivating and promoting local talent.
Under the project, Google will conduct training for 50,000 businesses and students in digital marketing over the next year via its Digital Garage online platform and soon-to-open facilities in the central and southern Taiwan cities of Taichung and Tainan, respectively.
During a launch ceremony attended by senior public sector officials and Google executives, Vice President Chen Chien-jen praised the project and said it is in line with the government’s policy of transforming Taiwan into a digital nation and smart island.
Many factors contribute to Taiwan’s status as a global high-tech powerhouse, Chen said, citing comprehensive industrial clusters and infrastructure, a deep talent pool and highly advanced information society. Support from global partners like Google is equally important, he added.
According to Chen, a central component of government efforts in maintaining Taiwan’s technology sector advantages is the Digi-plus initiative. Formulated to strike a balance between upgrading hardware and software capabilities, the Executive Yuan-overseen undertaking also aims to foster an innovation-friendly digital environment while consolidating related infrastructure.
It is hoped the project will dovetail with Digi-plus in providing new momentum, inspiring development of additional intelligent applications and expanding Taiwan’s digital economy, Chen added.
Chien Lee-feng, managing director and engineering site director for Google Taiwan, said the project is the company’s most important local investment and represents ongoing efforts to ensure Taiwan is ready to fully adopt technologies of the future like artificial intelligence.
Part and parcel of this commitment extends to readying the younger generations for opportunities stemming from AI through Google’s crash courses in instruction and machine learning for 5,000 teachers around Taiwan this year, he added.
Since its establishment in 2006, the company has expanded its headcount to more than 2,000, built a data center and opened a Google Cloud region, Chien said, adding that these steps helped make Taiwan Google’s largest engineering site in Asia.
Another big move for Google Taiwan involves kicking off the next stage of investment at its data center in Changhua County, central Taiwan, this year, as well as collaborative projects with local Android and Chrome developers. (SFC-E)
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