Exhibition shifts focus from hardware to software, building momentum for innovation

COMPUTEX TAIPEI 2018 kicks off today with a total of 1,602 companies from 30 countries showcasing in some 5,015 booths their newest products and technologies related to IoT, cloud computing, smart mobility and artificial intelligence-enabled services as well as solutions.
The exhibition this year features six state-of-art technology themes: Artificial intelligence (AI), 5G, Blockchain, Internet of Things (IoT), Innovations & Startups,”and “Gaming &VR,” as part of COMPUTEX’s mission to lead technological development and realize the vision of building a global technology ecosystem.
“This year, we have added two brand new elements, Blockchain and 5G, to display the latest trends to encourage more creative thinking and to assist global technology partners in planning their future markets strategically,” said Walter Yeh, president and CEO of Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA), one of the organizers of the event.
Leading players in the 5G industry like Ericsson, Intel, Sigfox and Qualcomm are to demonstrate compelling technologies and open a new page for the global telecom industry during the five-day event, which has continued to grow and expand in scale in line with the ICT industry.
As the development of blockchain applications have become an inevitable trend in global tech industry, COMPUTEX 2018 has decided to incorporate for the first time blockchain into its main themes, in the hope that collaboration with leading players home and abroad such as IBM, Bitmark and Health2Sync can expand opportunities for blockchain technologies.
IBM, which launched a new blockchain banking solution last year, is to cite its own blockchain experience and share application cases in financial, healthcare, retail, manufacturing, insurance and management during the COMPUTEX Forum’s “Future Trends” session this year.
On the IoT theme, it includes a special exhibit of SmarTEX which demonstrates products in seven categories, security, smart healthcare, Internet of Vehicles, smart wearable and e-sports technologies, AI and big data, smart tech solutions, and smart home and entertainment, with key exhibitors including Microsof, Intel, EDIMAX, ECS, and Syscom Group.
The Innovations & Startups theme includes the InnoVEX exhibit which is to be held from June 6 to 8, with 388 startups from 21 countries taking part in the event, up 10% from 2017. Among these exhibitors, up to 40% are international teams, and one-third AI related. The section also includes nine national pavilions: EU, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Spain, Poland, Malaysia, Mexico and Korea, triple than that of 2017.
This year, two more sessions (Workshop and Startup Tour) have been added to InnoVex to bring more momentum from local and global startups in addition to the existing elements of “Display, Demo, Pitch and Forum.”
As Asia’s leading startup platform, InnoVEX — into its third edition this year — has attracted local and worldwide high-potential startups, organizations and teams to participate in the annual event. During the three-day show to be held at the Taipei World Trade Center Hall 3, participants have the opportunity to exchange views with startups from all over the world through the forums provided by InnoVEX.
InnoVEX Pi Stage offers a platform for corporate and exhibitors to showcase and exchange ideas, at the same time opening up more opportunities for investing and incubating startups. World-renowned accelerators and startups, including Audi, Amazon Launchap, JAFCO, Samsung Next, TRIPLE and imec.epand, will talk about their global plans and cross-industry collaboration strategies on Pi Stage at 11 am on June 6th. They will also share how to help early –stage startups become commercialized, and ways to create a win-win situation for the startup community.
Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fund, which is devoted to investing entrepreneurs and young people in Hong Kong and Taiwan, takes part in the event for the first time to directly exchange views with global startups.
Meanwhile, the gaming industry is shifting its focus from enhancing device specs and designs to building a CX-centric Gaming 3.0 ecosystem, where daily life meets cross-industry applications, such as eSports bars, hotels, and mobile phones, to accommodate a more diversified set of interests. Seventy local and foreign exhibitors of hardware components like motherboards, PC cases, and cooling systems are taking part in the five-day event.
During the two-day COMPUTEX Forum, which begins today at the Taipei International Convention Center, a total of 15 global tech giants and pioneers are to share insights on AI ecosystem, technology prospects, and IoT developments centering on the “Ubiquitous Intelligence” theme, enabling attendees to envision the next stages of tech innovation.
Speakers include top executives from AI and IoT leaders such as NVIDIA and Intel, leading research and advisory company Gartner, 5G innovators Qualcomm and Ericsson, Blockchain application leading developer IBM, as well as ARM, NXP, Amazon, SUPERMICRO, and National Taiwan University (NTU) AI Lab.
As innovative thinking is critical for enterprises to break free from constraints and expedite transformation, COMPUTEX d&i awards added three specialty awards in the categories of “IoT”, “Startups” and “Applications & Solutions”— to promote cross-segment integration and innovation.
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. All of the awarded products are on display during COMPUTEX 2018 on the 4F Light Gallery of Nangang Exhibition Center, Hall 1.