President Ma Ying-jeou met on the afternoon of June 13 with Viktor Mayer-Schonberger, Professor of Internet Governance and Regulation at Oxford University. The president welcomed Professor Mayer-Schonberger to Taiwan, and expressed hope that the analytics specialist would share his knowledge and experience in applied analytics, thereby providing inspiration to Taiwan's industry and sparking industrial development.
In remarks, President Ma stated that Professor Mayer-Schonberger has become a legendary figure in recent years. At 14 years of age, he developed a subscription system for his school's newspaper, and at 20 he developed an anti-virus software program. In addition, the president commented, Professor Mayer-Schonberger completed a law degree in just three and a half years, which normally takes seven years to finish. He subsequently developed the concept of "big data," which has had an impact on the Internet throughout the world, the president said.
President Ma further stated that in this age in which computers and the Internet are so prevalent, each industry must stay abreast of the latest in data trends, otherwise they will lose their competitiveness. The president said that Taiwan's government has already singled out big data as an important focus for technology and applications development. The Executive Yuan's Board of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the Ministry of Economic Affairs have already initiated related basic and applied research and development, he noted, adding that a program to promote industrial applications has also gotten underway. However, said the president, based on what Professor Mayer-Schonberger and others have called for, it would appear that Taiwan still has not committed sufficient resources to big data. He expressed hope that the visitor will be able to provide valuable suggestions for the government's reference in promoting its administrative agenda.
The president stated that Taiwan lacks natural resources and has to rely instead on "brain power." Over the past several decades, he commented, the people of Taiwan have worked tirelessly, helping to vault Taiwan to the top slot in various industries in the world. Taiwan, he said, is home to the world's largest computer industry contract manufacturer (the Hon Hai/Foxconn Technology Group) and the world's largest semiconductor foundry (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd.), and is the world's largest base for computer manufacturing, with firms such as Quanta Computer Inc. and Compal Electronics Inc. President Ma also mentioned that well-known brand names such as ACER and ASUS are Taiwanese companies, as is HTC, a leading maker of cellphones. He noted that the US magazine BusinessWeek in 2005 published an edition with a cover article entitled "Why Taiwan Matters," which showed what a highly influential position Taiwan holds in the global technology industry.
President Ma emphasized that although Taiwan's technology industry is a world leader, development has hit a bottleneck in recent years. Quite a few companies have moved from contract manufacturing to developing their own brand names, transforming from an efficiency-driven business model to an innovation-driven one, he said. Professor Mayer-Schonberger, the president remarked, is a globally renowned expert in multiple disciplines. He expressed hope that the professor will share his wisdom and experiences on this visit to Taiwan, helping to spark inspiration that will drive Taiwan's industrial development.
Accompanying Professor Mayer-Schonberger was Commonwealth Publishing Group Founder and Chairman Charles H. C. Kao (高希均).