Advantech has disclosed it is working to strengthen its partnership with Tokyo Electron Device (TED) in striving to promote edge computing. With the aim of transforming the conventional business approach of dealing in single-unit embedded hardware to focus on AIoT solutions, Advantech and TED are cooperatively developing and promoting IoT edge computing solutions linked with Microsoft Azure.Advantech said the two companies have previously collaborated as partners in the embedded hardware business. Currently, Advantech is seeking to further expand its market share in Japan, while TED is seeking to bolster its sales in embedded hardware, design services, and AIoT solutions featuring Microsoft Azure Cloud Services.For the first round of efforts to promote edge computing, collaborative research is being conducted on the Plant Visualization Kit, which will streamline operations by visualizing the status of plant devices through linking Advantech's Tower Light Sensor, Edge Intelligence Server Series, and WISE-PaaS/EdgeSense together with Microsoft Azure, according to the Taiwan-based firm. Considerations are being made to launch this kit in the future, and verification tests are planned to commence at the headquarters of Aval Nagasaki Corporation, a consolidated TED subsidiary.According to Mike Koike, Advantech Japan's general manager, working with TED is a step in the right direction because the company has a wide sales network all over Japan and a high level of trust from its customers."We are entering the AIoT era, which means that significant transformations are needed in the very way that business is conducted. To expand the sales of our IoT Edge Intelligence WISE-PaaS as well as our hardware, Advantech needs a cooperative partner such as TED that can offer high marketing capabilities in order to sell AIoT solutions and that have strong technical support. This means providing solution services in a timely manner to meet customer requirements in bridging the gap between IT and OT. In a vital strategic partnership for the AIoT era, we will strive together to promote substantial developments in edge computing."Yasuo Hatsumi, vice president of TED, expressed excitement about cooperating with Advantech to offer transformational AIoT solutions to customers. "In addition to our existing hardware business, we will make efforts to further bolster our product and service functionality for AIoT markets."

Network communication technologies have been developing at a fast pace ever since they became an integral part of people's lives, advancing from 3G, 4G to 5G in the immediate future. They have fundamentally changed the way people live and work.5G communication is expected to bring not only enhancements to network communication quality but more importantly evolutional changes to the entire information industry. As what Li-Fung Chang, chief architect, 5G Technology Program Office, Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), pointed out, at the current stage, we should focus efforts on the development of key 5G technologies and core elements while also endeavoring to find crucial solutions that enable cross-industry integrations. Only by doing this can Taiwan secure a place in the global competition."Taiwan has a strong and solid foundation of information technologies, which provides an ideal base for 5G development," said Chang. "However, 5G advancements will actually hinge on the development of critical solutions that enable cross-industry integrations. For example, 5G technologies integrated with IoT, medical electronics or automotive electronics are some forward-looking objectives."Chang thinks Taiwan businesses have to change from working independently to working as a team whereby they can boost their competitive edge by combining forces and providing integrated solutions. This can include not only collaborations between corporations but more importantly cross-industry and cross-sector alliances.Particularly for 5G developments, businesses will not be able to access the latest technologies and patents without continuing academic researches. Academic institutions will not be able to carry on with their research without business sponsorships. As such, industry-academic collaborations are essential to high-tech advances."Therefore, MOEA, as a government agency, is working to facilitate industry alliances and partnerships as well as actively drive industry-academic collaborations," commented Chang. "MOEA looks to start a positive cycle by promoting commercialization of research results while driving corporate support of academic researches."It is also important to engage international experts. Professor Niels Kuster of Swiss Federal Institute of Technology is also the chairman of SPEAG, ZMT Zurich MedTech AG, NFT Technology Holding and Zeugi43 AG. He talked about IoT system standards, software and instruments. In addition to simulating, measuring and verifying whether 5G devices comply with related regulations and standards, different test environments can be designed and built for various IoT devices such as glasses, smart bands and other mobile devices, allowing products or solutions to more closely match user needs.As a matter of fact, many Taiwan businesses have been actively engaging in 5G research and development. For example, Auden Techno Corp., with continuing efforts on antenna technology R&D, is also targeting various 5G applications and has prepared complete solutions and services including component development, testing and validation, system build-up, solution planning and customization. Auden ensures its market leadership by keeping a close watch on worldwide trends and industry dynamics."5G communication is actually a very fundamental communication technology but it enables boundless applications," said Ruey-Hong Chou, chief technology officer, Technology Research Center, Auden. "Here at Technology Research Center, apart from critical 5G technologies and components, we also need to stay on top of market trends."In addition to IoT and automotive electronics solutions, Technology Research Center is also working with a Swiss corporation to develop new-generation smart healthcare solutions."With antennas being used in a growingly wide variety of applications, regulations and requirements on antenna designs and overall wireless communication quality become quite different as well," noted Jia-Lun Tang, vice president, antenna business unit, Auden. "The market is showing a growing demand for customized antennas so we are providing a more refined and diverse selection of antennas in terms of designs and testing services."Tang added that besides conventional antennas, more emphasis is being placed on the safety of medical implants. Passive sensors used in IoT devices are also among wireless communication products that receive great attention. Accordingly, Auden continues to strengthen R&D and production of wireless communication products while also gearing efforts toward a range of testing, simulation and validation instruments to ensure components and products comply with all safety regulations and user requirements."The need for simulation, testing and validation is growing with increasing product diversity. It's imperative that we deliver products satisfying customer needs," said Ching-I Hsu, director, Instrument and Equipment Sales, Auden. "Using these instruments, we can more accurately verify whether our antenna design and performance meet expectation. The digital simulation can also help us reduce loss and costs arising from production tests and thereby raise overall work efficiency."For wireless communication components and their testing and validation, the most critical consideration is whether they meet user needs or design spec. It is also essential that they can go to market within the shortest possible time frame. Under such circumstances, how to communicate with customers and come up with an ideal solution becomes crucial."Cross-industry integration is the trend, particularly for the wireless communication sector," noted Michael Chen, vice president, A Test Lab (ATL). "Take the healthcare sector for example. Sensor development is gearing toward wireless transmission and targeting long-term care needs so when we design total solutions, we not only need to take medical regulations and requirements into consideration but we also have to enhance interoperability and expandability. This can only be achieved through cross-department and cross-industry collaborations."Chen is of the opinion that just having good products is not enough. It is more important to form a complete industry ecosystem. By engaging collaborations across corporations and industries, we make joint efforts to bring brilliant end-to-end solutions to reality. Advanced technologies get to synergize and create optimal industry values."The industry ecosystem includes both information technology firms and industry-academic collaborations," noted Chen. "Academic institutions can support corporations with advanced research. The results can be implemented and commercialized by corporations, which can then fund academic institutions for further research. This is a positive cycle."Such a positive cycle enables joint industry-wide efforts to develop better solutions while also bringing research and manufacturing together in a mutually beneficial alliance through industry-academic collaborations.Yue-Pin Chang, chairman, Auden, emphasized that in addition to division of work in the company, Auden is also gearing up efforts toward cross-industry collaborations in hopes of building a new and competitive Taiwan team. "Aside from continuing to strengthen product R&D, the industry should combine forces to form a complete ecosystem and engage joint efforts to create total solutions of greater scale."Li-Fung Chang pointed out, "The Taiwan high-tech industry must work as a team and jointly contribute to a promising future for the industry. MOEA will act to bring outstanding Taiwan businesses together and help them become high-tech champions of the world."Yue-Pin Chang, chairman, Auden, and Li-Fung Chang, chief architect, 5G Technology Program Office, commented on 5G communication in the interview.Auden and IEEE EMC Taipei Chapter co-hosted the 5G technology forum, gathering experts from the industry, government, research and academia.Habib Bousleiman, Head of MRI Applications, ZMT (left), and Professor Niels Kuster (second from right) delivered talks at the forum hosted by Auden, gathering masterminds from home and abroad.

The leader of a research team has said he will not rush to establish a starup to commericalize its technology, - which has won various innovation awards, including iF - as a business will be just a tool to better life, not a purpose in itself.The team, led by RH Liao, at the Taiwan government-funded Industrial Technology Research Institute, has seen its innovative technology - fluid-driven emergency rescuer (FDER) - win various awards in the past 10 years, including Germany's iF and Reddot awards, IDEA of the US, Japan's Good Design Award (G-Mark), and the latest US Edison Award granted in April 2018.Winning the latest award may provide a good timing for Liao to start a new venture to commercialize the innovation, but Liao is still taking his time. He told Digitimes that he hopes to make better preparations before establishing a startup.Liao revealed that the micro-hydropower technology can be applied in two different devices: the fluid-driven tactical nozzle and fluid-driven sprinkler ligh. The two devices can provide thermal images, LED lighting, and laser indication of evacuation routes in the dark to enhance visibility, improve the efficiency of the rescue work, and protect lives of firefighters and victims.RH Liao, research team leader at ITRIPhoto: ITRI

Technology only accounts for 25% of what makes a startup successful while the CEO's leadership can contribute to 50% of its success, said Chun P Chiu, national policy advisor to the president of Taiwan, InnoBridge Capital's Senior Advisor and an angel investor, who has funded more than 100 startups over a 20-year period.Born in Taiwan, Chiu received a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Waseda University in Japan and a master's degree in electrical engineering from Oregon State University in the US. He designed the industry's first computer system-on-chip (SoC) and later engaged in R&D of DRAM, SRAM and flash memory chips. Chiu was in charge of mini computer research at Hewlett-Packard (HP). After he left HP in 1980, he founded Integrated Device Technology (IDT) with four partners, working on the development of SRAM fabricated using CMOS technology, an area where there was little research at that time. Four of the founders including Chiu were of engineering backgrounds and didn't know the first thing about fundraising. Later they recruited someone from AMD to be their CEO and the company successfully went public in 1984.Angel investors have valuable business connectionsDuring his time at IDT, Chiu transcended from his role as an engineer and took on challenging marketing and sales work. He established a Japan subsidiary for expansion into the Japan market, which has always been known for its stringent requirements on product quality. Chiu was lucky to have old classmates working for distributors and his customer Fujitsu so they were willing to try out IDT products and help with the testing. Following Fujitsu, Toshiba also became IDT's customer, making IDT the only American company successfully penetrating into the Japan memory market, which contributed 10% of IDT's revenues. Having completed his mission, Chiu decided to retire from his position at IDT. Afterwards, in 1989, based on his technological expertise and experience, Chiu founded another company, QSI, and made himself the CEO. QSI went public in 1994 and was acquired by IDT in 1998, when Chiu formally retired and began angel investing to this day.Drawing on his 20-year experience as an angel investor and venture capitalist, Chiu spoke frankly that more than 70 startups that he invested in went belly up, 10 are barely alive, five successfully went public and seven were acquired. The most successful one is network security equipment provider Netscreen, which was the first to make use of ASIC chips. Going public in 2001, Netscreen was later acquired by Juniper Networks for US$4.3 billion in 2004. The deal gave Chiu 200 times return on investment. Chiu helped recruit Frank Marshall from Cisco to join Netscreen as an advisor. Chiu thinks the move contributed to Netscreen's huge success. Marshall not only recognized Netscreen's technological strength but also helped the team set a product R&D direction. He also invested in the company himself and assisted in the search for a suitable CEO. As he thinks a company's success hinges on whether the management can work as a team, Marshall insisted all three founders must reach consensus on who should be hired as the CEO. Then, everything worked out.The deal that took Chiu by surprise the most was Azalea Networks in 2008. The wireless mesh network communication technology the company developed was very competitive at the time. Chiu thought Azalea Networks had very promising outlook and provided pointers for company operations at monthly board meetings. However, the founder from China was not satisfied with the slow growth in the US market and decided to return to China to bid for a 2008 Summer Olympics project. Unfortunately, Azalea Networks was unable to collect payments after completion of the project, which put the company in dire financial difficulty. Chiu came to rescue again and finally helped find a buyer - Aruba Networks - to acquire Azalea.Marketing and sales play a pivotal role in corporate successDrawing on his experience in starting his own businesses and angel investing, Chiu gives suggestions to Taiwan entrepreneurs with respect to the preparations they have to make in order to reach success.Know what the market wantsMarketing and sales is key to a company's success. A business leader has to figure out what the market needs and whether the company's technology matches the need. What Chiu used to do was to call field application engineers (FAE) stationed at customer sites back to join sales specialists and R&D engineers in brainstorming meetings every quarter so that the company could stay on top of customer needs. Chiu warns that entrepreneurs with engineering backgrounds often think they have the best product and the market will scramble for it. That is the biggest mistake when you start a business.CEO leadershipA startup is already halfway to success if it has a good CEO. Many startup teams have technological strength but they are going nowhere. In most cases, it's because they are unwilling to work with outside professional managers to help with their business operation. After a startup receives the first round of funding from an angel investor, it will have to develop the ability to raise additional capital by itself. In general, Chiu does not hire a CEO at the beginning but instead allows the startup team to experiment on its own. If they can't make it, Chiu will try to hire an outside CEO.Entrepreneur characteristics: humble and coachableAccording to Chiu, the most important characteristic of an entrepreneur is the willingness to stay humble, keep learning and engage professional talent. When Chiu was doing DRAM research, a few Japanese engineers were very humble so Chiu taught them everything he knew. Later when a Japanese firm got an outsourcing contract for computer chips, they analyzed the chip and came up with a better design than IDT's. The ability to take advice and communicate is another characteristic that Chiu places great importance on. An entrepreneur does not have to follow everything his mentor says but must be able to listen and communicate.Execution of business model combined with strategy planningA startup must have a clear business model and an understanding of how big the target market is, how strong the competitors are, what its own advantages are, how it is going to sell its products and what its market strategies are.Concise business proposalVenture capital funds get a lot of business proposals every day. They need to quickly determine whether a proposal has any potential so they usually just read the first page. As such, an entrepreneur looking to persuade venture capitalists must be able to present his point concisely on one page.Japan's technologiesFamiliar with the Japan industry, Chiu thinks although the Japanese marketplace has a reputation of being conservative, Japanese enterprises hold special technologies and are now gradually opening themselves up to partnerships with foreign businesses. The Taiwan manufacturing industry known for its agility and efficiency is a good complement to Japan. Furthermore, with Japan's trust in Taiwan, now is an ideal time for Taiwan and Japan to join forces. However, it will definitely take some time to build trust in a business relationship with Japanese firms.The whole world is in search of the next unicorn. Hardware is Taiwan's strength but future growth may be limited if it continues to focus only on hardware development, said Chiu. Instead, by combining hardware and software (application) developments, Taiwan will embrace tremendous opportunities. Furthermore, Asia offers more room for growth than other regions in the world. Taiwan, with geographical advantages, is an ideal testing ground for problem-solving applications. Taiwan can also work with other Asian countries holding different advantages to complement each other.But Chiu warned against putting too much emphasis on China due to market uncertainties there. Nevertheless, Taiwan startups should not hesitate to take the first step. "Just do it and you can always make adjustments later," he said.(Editor's note: This is part of a series of interviews focusing on the problems and opportunities that Taiwan-based startups face. The interviewees are venture capitalists and angel investors from Silicon Valley and Taiwan.)Chun P Chiu, senior advisor of InnoBridge CapitalPhoto: Joseph Tsai, Digitimes, May 2018

The government of Taiwan's Yunlin County will operate EZ10, a Level 4 autonomous-driving electric shuttle bus produced by France-based Ligier, for public transportation in a green energy park under development and other sight-seeing spots in coastal and downtown areas.EZ10 underwent road trial run in Taipei in August and in Kaohsiung in October 2017. EZ10 has six seats, plus room for another six standing passengers. At full power charging, EZ10 can run for 10 hours at an average speed of 20-25km/hour.The development of the green energy park is a project modifying an existing industrial park occupying land area of 1,176 hectares. The green energy park is planned to house PV power stations totaling 800MWp, with establishment scheduled for 2019.EZ10 in the front yard of a famous temple in YunlinPhoto: 7StarLake

Co-founder of Acorn Campus Ventures Bob Lin started six businesses, three of which succeeded and the others failed. In addition to being an angel investor, Lin is also the author of top-selling books. Lin has been through it all, from making a fortune to losing every penny. He put his thoughts and wisdom gained from four decades of experiences in his books in hopes of helping more people. Lin declined the title of a venture capital guru in modesty, stating that he continues to make investments and keeps writing about the industry he observes closely.Lin is also the founder of Multidimensional Angel Group and co-founder of Healthilink China.Finding a direction for TaiwanAs he often gives advice to Taiwan's National Science Council and Miinistry of Science and Technology in regard to the country's innovative startup development, Lin suggests three major directions for Taiwan to develop its own unique startup scene.Stand on the shoulders of giants and make continuing improvementsIn the past decade, many Taiwan startups have been focusing on developing peripheral products for the semiconductor and display panel industries, for example, improving clean rooms, masks or production equipment. With the growth of industry giants, many medium businesses got to go public. Such a development model can still carry on but it should be noted that many industry giants have reached maturity and their growth is slowing down, which has resulted in a decreasing number of startups in related fields.Duplicate US and European startup scenes in TaiwanSimilar to China, many Taiwan startups try to copy how US and European firms operate. For instance, after America's largest online restaurant reservation service company OpenTable was launched, quite a few similar services began to emerge in Taiwan. It is not a big problem to duplicate other people's success model in China because of its massive market size. However, for a Taiwan startup, even if it makes No. 1, future growth may be limited. Talent, technology, capital and market are the four elements to startup success. Lin thinks for Taiwan startups to survive, they have to make major breakthroughs with respect to the four elements. It's not a problem to copy other people's success model. However, startups must have a close understanding of market needs to be able to thrive.Leverage Taiwan's unique advantages to develop new business or expand existing businessTaiwan has abundant natural resources and has made great achievements in agriculture, fishery and aquaculture. Some sectors have even made themselves well known around the world with no help from the government, such as pineapple pastry. Other sectors with differentiating features include cultural and creative industries, tourism, healthcare and biotechnology. Among them, developments with respect to healthcare can include food safety further to pharmaceutical and medical equipment segments.Lin is prepared to invest in a Taiwan startup team which combines a special local delicacy with another Taiwan strength - automated production equipment made with precision machinery technology. Such a venture has the potential to change consumer habits and therefore is a real innovation.Investing in four major sectorsHaving successfully fostered 30 startups, Lin still gets in touch with about a dozen startup teams and invests in three or four of them every year. He mainly invests in four major sectors.Healthcare sectorOptimistic about the healthcare sector over 10 years ago, Lin funded Winning Health Technology Group, China's largest hospital management software provider, in 2006 and has enjoyed the company's rising share price ever since. He also started Healthlink Services with a Chinese team in 2008, providing emergency medical services and DNA testing. Healthlink Services serves as a third-party platform matching patients, insurance companies and hospitals. It provides members emergency medical transport and emergency medical instructions over the phone. Healthlink currently has 30 million registered members in China. All their medical information from the time they enter a hospital to the time they are discharged is put on record, which also serves as the basis for Healthlink to further pitch its health examination services including genetic analysis. There is also E-call service directed at medical assistance for car accidents. Furthermore, Lin has also recently made investment in gene therapy, which is a hot and trendy topic nowadays.Automotive industryLin had a stake in electric vehicle battery supplier Farasis 10 years ago and has served on the board of directors for eight years. Co-founded by American and Chinese entrepreneurs, Farasis holds very specialized technologies. Its automotive battery shipments ranked No. 1 for six months out of the past 12. It has also received funding from China's largest automaker. Jingchi, a Chinese autonomous driving startup, is another company Lin has poured capital in. Jingchi was established by a former Baidu employee in charge of Baidu's autonomous driving research.Data-related businessFour years ago, Lin provided capital to Paxata, specializing in big data analytics tools. In the business world, raw data has to undergo a complex compilation and redundancy deletion process before enterprises can do any analysis. In view of this, Paxata provides tools for business analysts to quickly turn raw data into useful information and begin model building. Paxata has also received investments from Microsoft, Intel and Cisco. Another startup Lin has invested in is R2.ai, which helps enterprises create data models using artificial intelligence (AI). Data scientists often spend a large amount of time trying different data models in order to find the best one. With R2.ai's tool, it only takes half a day to find the best model, significantly improving data modeling efficiency.FintechLin began investing in Fintech years ago, for example, in BaseVenture, headquartered in San Francisco. BaseVenture mainly helps fund administrators and fund managers in the alternative investment industry simply and automate how private funds are managed. It provides a platform for administrators, managers, clients and investors to work together and securely exchange documents.Often invited to deliver speeches or provide consultation, Lin put emphasis on the four elements to corporate success - talent, technology, capital and market, wherein market and talent matter the most. Lin drew an analogy between operating a business and building a house. Before you build a house, you have to find a good piece of land, which is like the market to a business. The market has to be large and rapidly growing. A company will not succeed in a market with problems. Talent is like the foundation of a house. With a good startup team, even if you select a wrong topic, you can always make adjustments and still have a shot at success. On the other hand, if you work with wrong talent or your team cannot work together, after your startup burns through all the cash, the game is over.When you have all four elements, you will have differentiation. There must be at least one element that makes you stand out from the competition. That is, you have to build up an entry barrier. For example, have your intellectual property protected or else it will soon be copied or stolen. There are many ways to start your own business. Opening a breakfast place or restaurant so that you are your own boss is one choice. However, engaging in an innovative startup that can fundamentally change the way people live will positively impact the world.(Editor's note: This is part of a series of interviews focusing on the problems and opportunities that Taiwan-based startups face. The interviewees are venture capitalists and angel investors from Silicon Valley and Taiwan.)Bob Lin, co-founder of Acorn CampusPhoto: Bob Lin

Six startup teams received awards at IDEAS (Innovative DigiTech-Enabled Applications & Services) Show 2018 held by Taiwan's government-sponsored Institute for Information Industry (III) in cooperation with APEC on July 24, according to III.IDEAS is an annual event for startups around the world to present their innovations in areas including e-commerce, AI (artificial intelligence), big data and VR (virtual reality)/AR (augmented reality). There were 36 startup teams from Taiwan, Vietnam, Peru, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea and Papua New Guinea attending the event.The six award winners were Dipp, Uspace and Olis Innovation from Taiwan, Toss Lab and Luxrobo from South Korea, EzQ Company from Vietnam, III said.Dipp offers a smart platform for automatic production of printed advertising; Uspace integrates smart parking space locks with IoT gateway systems using smartphone app for public parking space sharing; and Olis integrates many convenient tools to hike efficiency in customer management and re-marketing.Toss Lab offers an instant communication platform to facilitate office communication; Luxrobo runs a platform for teaching IoT programming languages; and EzQ offers a retail platform to enable fast trading among online shopping operators, logistics service provider and consumers.Vice economics minister Wang Mei-hua, in her speech delivered at IDEAS Show 2018, indicated that Taiwan's law was amended in early July 2018 to remove fund-raising barriers facing startup businesses.Six startup teams win awards at IDEAS Show 2018Photo: III

As many as 50 startup teams have demonstrated their latest innovations at an annual conference, dubbed TEC #2 Demo Day, hosted on July 24 by Taidah Entrepreneurship Center (TEC) of National Taiwan University (NTU), with some of their innovations even winning iF and Reddot awards.The startup teams, all developed with assistance of the NTU Accelerator and NTU Garage Incubator - two major units of the TEC - displayed their R&D achievements in four major areas including FinTech, smart IoT, health and medication, and cultural and creative living.Members of the startup teams include some former presidents at foreign banks in Taiwan, and attending physicians at hospitals, all performing well in their specific professional fields.Among the teams is FLIPWEB, a virtualized property trading platform, which has recently won the 2018 Young Award from Taiwan's Industrial Development Bureau and obtained Taiwan's first digital asset brokerage patent.In the area of web applications, StyleMap has set up an alliance with over 4,800 hair stylists to roll out a smart online hair-style book for consumers to grasp the latest fashion styles. Meanwhile, startup 3drens has also had its wearable wireless communication device Sherpa patented for working well in helping mountaineers smoothly go through adventures.Additionally, the GOGO Furniture designed by a startup from central Taiwan, showcased nine-piece K/D furniture that can be taken apart and reassembled, thus saving space and able to be easily transported. The furniture design won both iF and Reddot design awards in 2017.Since its inception five years ago, TEC has had a total of over 150 corporate mentors, and it has lately invited five more enterprises as new mentors, namely Diamond BioFund, Fubon Financial Holdings, Advantech, Kuobrothers and the United Daily News Group.

Taiwan biking software platform Velodash app has been selected by Singapore to record the country's RIBA (Round Island Bike Adventure) activity to be held on August 5, the city state's national day, and organizers of the event will grant gold, silver and bronze awards to cyclists completing the adventure based on the app records.Voldash CEO Molly Huang said that the app can not only serve as a biking recorder, but also help plan cycling routes, schedule group rides, and make riding appointments, with global cyclists also able to do exchanges on the app.Huang said that Velodash app has incorporated thousands of cycling routes in Taiwan, Japan, the US and Singapore. Since its launch in May 2018, the app has attracted 8,000 users, including 5,000 in Taiwan.Huang said Velodash app was recommended by France telecom firm Orange Fab to RIBA organizers after her company attended a 2018 Taipei International Bicycle Show promotion held in June in Singapore by Taiwan External Trade Development Council.Velodash biking appPhoto: Company

7-Eleven has opened its second unstaffed X-Store in Taipei, relying on AI (artificial intelligence) and IoT (Internet of Things) technologies to serve customers.Customers are identified through either using an electronic wallet card or facial recognition via a biometric system equipped with NeoFace, an AI engine developed by Japan-based NEC. Upon identification, personalized words is displayed by a screen and spoken by a smart robot to welcome the customer.A POS (point of sale/service) system integrated with image recognition technology can recognize merchandise items purchased by a customer for calculating total price. Prices of merchandise items, displayed on electronic tags on the shelves, can be remotely updated.President Chain Store, which runs the 7-Eleven chain in Taiwan, opend its first unstaffed store in January 2018 at its headquarters initially for use only by its employees. The second store in Taipei is open to the general public around the clock.7-Eelven's unstaffed X-Store in TaipeiPhoto: President Chain Store