President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and local tech leaders hailed the “smart city” as a catalyst for the next stage in Taiwan’s economic development at the opening ceremony of the 2018 Smart City Summit & Expo on Tuesday.

In her opening speech, Tsai emphasized the importance of technology and creativity in the Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT) through which Taiwan can develop solutions to many of the challenges faced today.

These include how local governments can best apply artificial intelligence solutions in the fields of disaster relief, renewable energy, transportation and senior care.

The president pointed to both private sector and government investment so that Taiwan will not fall behind in the age of AIoT but rather be able to use smart technology to bring about an economic transformation.

The 4-day event in Taipei City features 210 businesses from all over the world, 1,050 booths and 12 themed pavilions for countries including the United Kingdom, France, Japan, South Korea, Spain and Italy.

According to Stan Shih (施振榮), founder of Acer Inc., the smart city is an important platform for the transformation of Taiwan’s information communication technology sector.

The smart city, which is people-centric, will also facilitate smart solutions in education, medicine and transportation, AsusTek Computer Inc. Vice Chairman Jonathan Tseng (曾鏘聲) said.

Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢), head of Taipei Computer Association, one of the organizers, said that the success of the smart city will also require constant innovation and production.

Far Eastern Group CEO Douglas Hsu (徐旭東) said that Taiwan needs to make better use of talent to be more innovative.

In doing so, the country will be able to expedite economic growth by investing in smart cities, he concluded.