Taiwan assists in development of ICT infrastructure

This article was written by Edwin Hsiao and published by the Taiwan Journal on January 4, 2008. It reports that according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Taiwan will use its expertise in the field of information and communication technology to contribute to the development of several countries within the framework of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.

According to the ministry, Taiwan, an APEC member economy under the name "Chinese Taipei", will initiate projects with a number of partner member economies of the APEC Digital Opportunity Center (ADOC). These countries include Chile, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam and Peru.

According to the ministry, one of Taiwan's major projects for 2008 is to help APEC member economies shorten growing digital divides with developed nations. With Peru gearing up to host the 2008 APEC summit, Taiwan will help the South American country promote e-government in its major cities, thereby helping to close the gap between policy and implementation.

As e-government and e-industry require skilled execution, the ADOC Trainers' Training project was established in 2004. The project aims to enhance the abilities of people who already possess significant ICT skills, so they can serve as teachers in their own countries. In this way, ADOC hopes that the aforementioned developing countries will become more self-reliant and able to solve issues revolving around digitalization by themselves.

For example, at a recent presentation ceremony in Lima, Peru, representatives from the ADOC awarded certificates to 30 Peruvians who had successfully completed the organization's training course. According to these representatives, Taiwan will continue to share its experience in ICT development and application through implementation of regular training programs. It is hoped that Peru can go on to assist other APEC member economies, after it achieves its goal of overcoming the digital divide.

According to this article, as APEC members strive to build the ICT infrastructure necessary for the advancement of their economies, the phenomenon of the digital divide has emerged. To tackle this problem, Taiwan advocated establishing the ADOC at the 11th APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in Bangkok, Thailand, 2003.

In 2004, Taiwan funded and established the center's headquarters in Taipei. Also starting from 2004, the ADOC begun implementing programs that are aimed at training professionals in information and communications technologies, as well as in subjects related to trade facilitation and electronic business.

The ADOC was principally established to further a number of goals, including the generation of e-commerce within the APEC region, the establishment of a platform to explore digital possibilities among member economies, and the bridging of the digital divide.