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進入《TAIPEI TIMES》 AI, defense funding to be increased
Premier Cho Jung-tai speaks at a meeting at the Civil Service Development Institute in Taipei yesterday. Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
TRICKLE-DOWN AI: By improving artificial intelligence awareness among ministries, officials hope familiarity with the technology would spread to all levels of government
By William Hetherington / Staff writer, with CNA
The government’s budget for science and technology is to be increased by 14.9 percent with the aim of turning Taiwan into an exporter of artificial intelligence （AI） solutions, Premier Cho Jung-tai （卓榮泰） said yesterday.
Cho made the statement during a meeting of the deputy heads of ministries at the Civil Service Development Institute in Taipei. The meeting was held jointly by the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration, the Ministry of Digital Affairs and the Taiwan AI Academy.
The personnel agency last month signed a plan to integrate AI solutions into the operations at ministries to “strengthen the quality of public services.”
Cho told the meeting that investment in AI was a policy of President William Lai’s （賴清德） administration.
As part of that policy, the Executive Yuan’s Economic Development Committee is implementing a plan to train 200,000 people with AI-related skills over the next eight years, he said.
The government is still in the process of drafting regulations to govern the development and implementation of AI, and in the meantime it would gather feedback from the public on proposed regulations, he said, adding that the feedback would guide use of such technology by government agencies.
The Executive Yuan has also approved plans to improve civil servants’ AI-related knowledge, he said.
The increased budget for AI and science would include an extra NT$17 billion （US$520.18 million） for semiconductors, NT$10 billion for AI and NT$10 billion for space communications, he said.
The “five trusted industry sectors” named by Lai during his inauguration speech — semiconductors, AI, military, security and surveillance, and next-generation communications — would receive a combined NT$22 billion in the form of an “assistance fund,” Cho said.
Victor Tsan （詹文男）, head of National Taiwan University’s Center for Technology Policy and Industry Development, Taiwan AI Academy president Tsai Ming-shun （蔡明順） and Academia Sinica Department of Information Technology Services director Chen Lingzhi （陳伶志） spoke about challenges and opportunities in the development of AI.
Director-General of Personnel Su Chun-jung （蘇俊榮） and Minister of Digital Affairs Huang Yen-nun （黃彥男） also attended the event.
By improving AI awareness among senior ministerial officials, familiarity with the technology would hopefully spread to civil servants at all levels of government, the officials said.
On Tuesday, Lai said that the government’s plan to spend NT$647 billion on national defense next year, an increase of about 6 percent compared with this year, shows Taiwan’s commitment to enhancing its self-defense.
“We are determined to bolster our self-defense capabilities and strengthen cooperation with democratic partners” as part of efforts to “ensure peace and prosperity,” Lai said after being briefed by the Cabinet on its general budget plan for fiscal year 2025.
The total budget planned for next year is about NT$3.13 trillion.
Spending on social welfare would continue to account for the largest share of the 2025 budget, followed by education, technology and culture, while economic development and defense spending would rank third and fourth respectively, he said.
The budget plan, which has to be approved by the Cabinet and the legislature, reflects the government’s commitment to addressing the “increasingly complex internal and external challenges” facing Taiwan, he said.
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
