The Eye on Taiwan news staff

COMPUTEX 2018 has kicked off in Taipei with a total of 1,062 companies from 30 countries showcasing in 5,015 booths their newest products and technologies related to IoT, cloud computing, smart mobility and artificial intelligence-related services as well as solutions.

Speaking in the opening ceremony at Nangang Exhibition Center in Taipei on Tuesday, James Huang, chairman of the Taiwan External Trade Development Council — one of the chief organizers, described the five-day event as fruitful, given that future technologies are being displayed.

“A new chapter is about to unfold today because we are about to witness future technologies that are going to change the way we live forever,” he said, noting the six main themes presented during COMPUTEX this year, namely,  AI, Internet of Things, 5G, Blockchain, Innovation & Startups as well as Gaming & VR.

“As you may know, the potential and the future of the AIoT, 5G, and Blockchain technologies are limitless. And when AIoT takes off on the wings of 5G technology, what we will see is the start of a whole new ball game,” Huang said.

Huang stressed a 5G base station will be able to connect millions of devices within one square kilometer. Those devices, which will be running applications for smart cities, smart homes, IoT and IoV, will completely change people’s lifestyles.

At the same time, the emergence of blockchain technology has become an unstoppable wave that could revolutionize the industry, just like the internet did around 20 years ago, Huang said, adding this is why COMPUTEX listed blockchain as one of its six major themes. “It is the DNA of COMPUTEX to be the platform that drives growth and accelerates expansion into new opportunities,” Huang said.

Taiwan’s Vice President Chen Chien-jen, invited to address the opening, said over the years, COMPUTEX has firmly established its status as a top-notch global B2B high-tech and ICT trade platform that has helped to bridge transactions for leading suppliers and buyers from all over the world.

To fit in with the latest AI development trend, Chen said the government will pour in NT$16 billion during the next five years to form startup research centers, develop infrastructure related to AI research and cloud services and cultivate talents in order to boost the local ITC and semiconductor industries.

Huang said Taiwan is shifting from high-tech manufacturing to an innovation-driven economy, and TAITRA is on a mission to assist the realization of innovative ideas.

“In our efforts to provide the ideal platform for startups to connect with the world, we introduced InnoVEX,” he said, adding InnoVEX has entered its third year in 2018, but has already become the venue of choice for a record-breaking 388 startups from 21 countries, where they can show the world their latest innovations and connect with overseas markets.

 

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Innovative thinking is critical for enterprises to break free from constraints and expedite transformation. COMPUTEX d&i awards, in its 11th years, added 3 specialty awards in the categories of “IoT”, “Startups”, and “Applications & Solutions,” according to TAITRA.

Among a total of 212 applications from 10 countries, 5 key criteria, including “Innovation and Elaboration”, “Functionality”, “Aesthetics”, “Responsibility” and “Positioning” were used to select 60 ground-breaking innovations, it said.

In particular, the “Systems + Mobile Communication” category garnered the most awards, including the following ten exceptional, innovative companies, namely BLEUJOUR, WINCOMM, Acer, Senor Tech, ASUS, ZOTAC, MSI, Cincoze, Dell and Lenovo.

All of the awarded products are on display during COMPUTEX 2018 on the 4F Light Gallery of Nangang Exhibition Center. They will also go on a display tour to major ICT exhibitions around the world, in the hope to encourage corporations to integrate applications across different fields and demonstrate their technology innovation capacities around the world, TAITRA said.

COMPUTEX 2018 utilizes 4 major exhibition venues, including TWTC Exhibition Hall 1, TWTC Exhibition Hall 3, Nangang Exhibition Hall 1 and TICC to construct a diverse exchange platform for showcasing. In particular, two major international gaming competitions have joined the forces.

It noted that the forums held during COMPUTEX always lead the latest technology trends where the attendees can also interact directly with heavyweight industry leaders from Taiwan and abroad to foster new thinking.

COMPUTEX Forum has invited Amazon, ARM, Gartner, Intel, Advantech, NVIDIA, NXP as well as first-time participants, Google, Microsoft, Lite-On Technology Corp., and other technology giants to discuss 3 major themes, namely “AI Session”, “Future Trends”, and “IoT Session”.

During the two-day forums which began on Tuesday, participants are to share industry trends and the vision of the future technology ecosystems.