Tien, Chung-kwang
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs
Republic of China (Taiwan)
November 22, 2022
(As Delivered)
Good morning!
On behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of China (Taiwan), I am delighted to welcome you to the 2022 Taiwan E-Government and Smart City Workshop. I wish to express my appreciation to the Institute for Information Industry for organizing today's event. Now that the COVID-19 pandemic has abated, it is a great pleasure to be able to meet in person after three long years.
The pandemic has transformed our lives, making information and communications technologies more important than ever. However, over half of all people in the Indo-Pacific region still lack access to new technology, and this is hampering postpandemic recovery.
To narrow the digital divide, Taiwan has been working closely with countries in the region. In 2019, Minister of Foreign Affairs Jaushieh Joseph Wu announced a plan to establish the Taiwan Digital Opportunity Center Project, with educational modules tailored to meet the needs of partner countries. The modules cover fundamentals such as computer hardware and software, website design, and mobile phone repair, as well as advanced concepts, including security, networking, and the responsibilities of IT professionals. This workshop is also an important component of the Taiwan Digital Opportunity Center Project, offering a diverse array of practical courses on information security, cybersecurity, and smart cities.
A smart city is an urban area that uses internet of things electronic sensors to collect data, which is then analysed to gain insights into managing assets and resources more efficiently. Smart cities can deliver better government services and improve citizens' lives.
I want to share a successful example of how the concept of smart cities has been applied by Taiwan to help one of our allies become more resilient to climate change and natural disasters.
Belize is located in the tropical coastal lowlands of Central America. In recent years, the frequency of disasters—such as hurricanes, floods, torrential rain, and droughts—has increased, which has seriously affected economic development and put people's lives in danger.
To improve disaster prevention and response capabilities and reduce the impact on people's livelihoods and property, Taiwan launched the Belize Urban Resilience and Disaster Prevention Project. The initiative transferred Taiwan's disaster prevention experience and technology to assist Belize in establishing a flood early-warning system.
We started by integrating existing climate, hydrological, geographic, and map data from different governmental agencies. Hydrological calculations were then made to simulate flooding incidents before they happened. Now, the system sends warnings to the Belizean people to tell them to prepare for floods or evacuate in time. This helps reduce the damage caused by natural disasters.
The project is an example of how the smart city concept can be applied to improve disaster resilience and contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals. I hope that Taiwan's success story in Belize can be duplicated in other countries.
In closing, I would like to thank the Institute for Information Industry for sharing Taiwan's advanced technologies with its diplomatic allies and helping Taiwan support the digital development of partner countries in the region. I hope our distinguished guests from the Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, and Tuvalu will have a fruitful and rewarding experience in Taiwan. I wish this event every success! Thank you!