Secretariat, Taipei City Government

Taipei City Mayor Ko Wen-je visited the renowned MaiCoin Group’s brick-and-mortar store in the morning of August 21.

During the conversation, he commented that he had come there to talk about something which he was completely unfamiliar with. According to Ko, Taiwan has almost no natural resources, therefore the only way out is through innovation. With more than half of the 10 most important occupations in the next decade yet to emerge, he said that it means the future is unpredictable. However, several of them have gradually made their presence felt, and they indeed will exert a certain level of influence on Taiwanese society. With emerging technologies such as blockchain, AI, and 5G, how will they reshape the future of society in Taiwan, he suggested that he honestly has no clue.

Mayor Ko mentioned that this morning’s city hall meeting was focused on the issue of Taipei data companies. Information is a currency, and he cited the EasyCard – especially registered EasyCards – as the most valuable data in Taipei City. Consequently, a small data processing company was formed for EasyCard, and teams were dispatched to Shanghai, Hangzhou, and other international cities to absorb their experiences.

According to Ko, Taiwan is not the most advanced nation, so there are cities that are more developed than Taipei City in the world, which is why it is important to absorb each city’s advantages and assimilate them. As far as a government is concerned, the most important tasks previously were personnel and finance, but now another important mission is to manage data. He believes that since Taipei City is unable to establish a Taipei data company quickly, therefore the first step is to create a small demonstration site in EasyCard Corporation with a corresponding liaison from the Department of Information Technology. He invites everyone to provide innovative ideas through Taipei City Government’s data platform, and city hall will shift from purchasing software and hardware to buying services for the future.

Using an example, the mayor elaborated that of all the countries using the motorcycle as the main form of transport, Taiwan’s ICT is the most advanced. Currently, countries around the world are still figuring out a way to manage motorcycle parking spaces, therefore when Taipei City was implementing motorcycle parking management, there was no precedent anywhere in the world for it to learn from. As a result, one of Taipei City Government’s recent public tenders involved bid solicitation for parking space management service providers focusing on specific areas. He often says that “you are limited by your imagination”, so frankly he has no idea how AI and blockchain technology will affect the future of Taipei.

The mayor stated that the duty of the government is to establish a platform for businesses and individuals to unleash their full potential. The reason for visiting the company today, he said, is because it is the first brick-and-mortar store for virtual currency in Taiwan. He believes that the brick-and-mortar store in the modern age is a venue to purchase life experiences and a platform for sharing ideas, consultation, and education. He also remarked that he originally intended to raise funds for his election campaign last year via blockchain; although others have told him that the concept is too cutting-edge, he believed that one should be bold in innovation, and the blockchain approach can be applied in the future for the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP)’s fundraising campaigns and financial records, because blockchain cannot be hacked, therefore all financial records will remain intact and authentic. He hopes that actions can be taken in the future to introduce the new technology to Taiwanese society.