Ministry of Economic Affairs of Republic of Ch : Excellent Applications in the Data Services Industry Push Taiwan to the Top

Organization: Industrial Development Bureau, MOEA Publish Date: 2016-01-30 PM 05:07

Taiwan's results in promoting Open Data have gained international recognition, ranking first in the 'Open Data Index' announced by the Open Knowledge Foundation at the end of last year (2015). The Industrial Development Bureau (IDB) began promoting Open Data applications at the end of 2013 in the hope of effectively creating economic value, and a total of 1.3 million users accessed data services in 2015; new investments were made in the industry, and revenue reached NT$337 million.

The first task at hand to promote the application of Open Data in new services is to urge the government to provide more key data. After interaction with the private sector, the IDB learned about demand for 150 types of data and successfully released 86 datasets. The IDB also provides subsidies and holds competitions to encourage the private sector to show their creativity in Open Data applications, in the hope of driving economic development. A total of 17 enterprises received subsidies for developing innovative services using Open Data in 2015; 253 proposals for innovative applications of Open Data were made, and rewards were given for 34 innovative services. In addition, Taiwan formed the 'Asian Open Data Partnership' with Japan, South Korea, Thailand, the Philippines, and Indonesia. The first forum of the partnership was held last year in the hope of sharing Taiwan's successful experience with the world, as well as helping companies seize business opportunities created through Open Data.

The future of Open Data will place greater emphasis on quality, applications, and benefits. 'Industrial applications' promoted by the IDB will play an even larger role. Efforts in 2016 will be directed towards increasing the depth of applications, driving the development of new data service models, and forming a data service industry chain. International exchanges and regional cooperation will be utilized to bridge the industry with overseas target markets, thereby enhancing Taiwan's overall industrial competitiveness.