ROC Cabinet launches TAF startup incubator

2015/12/15

A startup incubator fostering creative technological applications was inaugurated Dec. 12 by the Cabinet on the site of the former ROC air force headquarters in Taipei City.

Launched as part of the first phase of the Taiwan Air Force initiative, the project serves as a flexible platform for promoting entrepreneurship and ingenuity spanning arts and culture, hardware and software integration, social innovation and technological development.

During the ceremony, Premier Mao Chi-kuo said TAF is a world-class undertaking enabling entrepreneurs to achieve multidisciplinary collaboration. “The word Taiwan is synonymous with the global innovation economy; air signifies a boundless space where ideas converge; and force means the momentum generated by that meeting of ideas.

“We envision the long-term development of TAF going beyond the Internet of Things. At its core is the Internet of Humans, a smart network connecting our lives through locally developed and implemented cutting-edge technology, transforming Taiwan’s infrastructure, ecology, education and environment.”

According to the Industrial Development Bureau under the Ministry of Economic Affairs, 25 startups are plying their trade at the site. Since commencing for a trial run in May, 100-plus teams comprising over 1,000 entrepreneurs and creative professionals are utilizing TAF resources.

Separately, the IDB launched the same day a target forum and solution workshop at the site.

IDB Director-General Wu Ming-ji said the two-day event addressed ways to harness TAF-generated creative energy for the benefit of Taiwan. “With public interest at the forefront, the forum brought together some of the most brilliant minds in this field to consider fresh ways of engineering smart living and social creativity.”

Participants include Acer Group founder Stan Shih; U.S. University of California, Los Angeles, professor Hitoshi Abe; Syracuse University professor Michael Speaks; and Pritzker Architecture Prize Executive Director Martha Thorne.

“We are confident that the creative output made possible by TAF will provide the local information and communications technology industry with the right tools to build a bright future for Taiwan,” Wu said.

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=240118&ctNode=2194&mp=9)