After continuous evolution over the years, the Internet of Things (IoT) has evolved from an emerging concept to a ubiquitous and popular technology. With the introduction of artificial intelligence (AI) and 5G, it has further expanded its application landscape, bringing safety and convenience to people’s daily life, promoting the digital transformation and upgrading of various industrial and commercial activities, and spawning countless innovative services and products. According to the estimates by Statista, a market research organization, the global IoT market will reach approximately $389 billion in 2020, and this figure is expected to exceed $1 trillion in 2023.
ASVDP helps Taiwan’s IoT industry to flourish
Optimistic about the development prospects of Taiwanese companies in the IoT field, the National Development Council (NDC) of Executive Yuan, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), and the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) have jointly promoted the Asia Silicon Valley Development Plan (hereinafter referred to as ASVDP) to perform two main tasks: to “promote the innovation and R&D of the IoT industry” and to “upgrade the innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem”. So far, the implementation has achieved fruitful results.
In terms of promoting industrial development, the output value of Taiwan’s IoT exceeded NT$1 trillion in 2018 and set a record high of NT$1.55 trillion in 2020, with a global market share of 4.62%. In addition to attracting major international companies such as Google, Microsoft, AWS, and Cisco to invest in Taiwan in cooperation with local industry players to develop innovative IoT application solutions such as smart factories and smart energy, the ASVDP has also facilitated 223 innovative application cases by the end of 2020 in the development of smart urban and rural applications such as smart transportation and smart medical care.
Taiwan is welcoming its “first year of 5G” in 2020. To accelerate the innovative application of 5G in the IoT, the ASVDP commissioned Chunghwa Telecom to set up in Taiwan the first Open Testing and Integration Centre (OTIC), an accreditation laboratory that has been reviewed and approved by the International O-RAN Alliance. Officially inaugurated in August this year, the OTIC provides testing services for 5G equipment interoperability, reliability and stress tests as well as the assessment of information security and other projects, hoping to help Taiwan’s 5G products to penetrate the world market faster. So far, 13 companies have submitted their applications for testing.
In terms of the construction of the innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem, ASVDP’s venture angel investment program has invested NT$2.24 billion in 154 startups as of September this year, driving the total amount of related investment to NT$6.646 billion. Meanwhile, the international startup settlements such as Taiwan Tech Arena (TTA) and Linkou Startup Terrace have attracted more than 20 domestic and overseas accelerators and 600 startups. In accordance with the ASVDP, the NDC has not only taken the lead to set up and promote the national startup brand “Startup Island TAIWAN”, creating a consistent and positive image for Taiwan’s startups, but has also assisted 9 Next Big startups such as Gogoro in entering the international market.
To perfect the regulatory environment for startups is also a task that ASVDP continues to push. Through the implementation of “Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals”, 3,111 “employment gold cards” have been issued as of September 2021, allowing talents such as Steven Shih Chen, founder of YouTube, to return to Taiwan to assist startup development. In addition, “Taiwan Innovation Board” and “Pioneer Stock Board” have been launched in Taiwan stock market since July, helping startups with key core technologies and innovation capabilities to accelerate their fund raising in the capital market.
Based on the above results, ASVDP has entered its “Version 2.0” this year. NDC stated that ASVDP 2.0 will achieve the vision of “Building Taiwan into a key force for digital innovation in Asia” through three major aspects: expanding the application of AIoT technologies, upgrading Taiwan’s startup ecosystem, and integrating local system integrators capacity and exporting products/services overseas. It is hoped to achieve five goals in the next four years: to cultivate three system integration companies at an international level, to reach 5% of global IoT share by 2025, to export 20 AIoT solutions, to facilitate the diversified exits of 40 startups and to help 200 startups to succeed.
Source: ASVDP Boosts Startups to Use 5G AIoT Applications in Cities, Suburbs, and Rural Areas in Taiwan