AI Taiwan

The three-day 2018 DevDays Asia conference, organized by Microsoft Taiwan and described as the largest software developer event in Asia, began Monday and is expected to attract the participation of as many as 300,000 people.

Many of those participating will do so through live broadcasting, according to Microsoft, which is putting on the conference for a third year in collaboration with Taiwan’s Industrial Development Bureau.

The “exciting programs” at this year’s conference will showcase the latest technologies and applications, and an engineering team from Microsoft headquarters has made a special trip to Taiwan this year to share its knowledge, the American software giant said.

The 2018 event will include more than 40 programs and lectures from Microsoft Build, the largest annual developer conference in the United States.

“Program formats will include the sharing of latest technologies, live demonstrations, and hands-on activities,” according to the organizer.

The main themes of the conference will be artificial intelligence (AI), data analysis and Office 365 development and industry solutions.

At the press conference held to mark the conference’s opening, Microsoft Taiwan general manage Ken Sun (孫基康) described developers as the main forces driving a nation’s digital transformation.

Sun said he expected digital transformation to contribute greatly to Taiwan’s economic development in the next three decades, citing estimates that it could raise Taiwan’s gross domestic product (GDP) by NT$400 billion (US$13.36 billion) by 2021 and contribute an annual 0.5 percentage point rise to GDP growth.

Microsoft Greater China regional chairman and CEO Alain Crozier said that with the acceleration of AI technology development, Microsoft sees many opportunities related to R&D talent, data, and emerging technology acceptance in the Asia-Pacific region.

The company will continue to promote communications between different platforms, help speed up global technology exchanges, and assist local developers in acquiring the newest resources, Crozier said.

Microsoft opened an AI research and development hub in Taiwan in March, eyeing local AI talent.

Date：2018-05-28
Source：CNA news