Minister of the Ministry of Digital Affairs (moda) Audrey Tang was invited to attend the 'AI Expo for National Competitiveness' held in Washington, DC, USA, yesterday evening (7th) Taiwan time via online participation. In the session on 'Global Approaches to Leveraging AI and Tech for Competitiveness,' Minister Tang served as a panelist, sharing Taiwan's experiences alongside Singapore's Minister for Communications and Information, Josephine Teo, and the Philippines' Secretary of Information and Communications Technology, Ivan John E. Uy. They discussed measures to effectively utilize AI and emerging technologies to build a trustworthy AI and digital environment.

The "AI Expo for National Competitiveness" is the inaugural event of the Special Competitive Studies Project (SCSP), an American think-tank; it invites critical opinion leaders from government, business, and academia to discuss how to guide both the public and private sectors in leveraging AI to enhance competitiveness and manage the risks caused by emerging technologies.
Minister Tang expressed during the meeting that AI's origin and fundamental basis stem from data. Therefore, the moda emphasizes formulating measures for open utilization and management of AI to balance the risks of AI infringing on personal privacy or sensitive information and the diverse innovation and development of data.

Minister Tang pointed out that Taiwan collaborates with the Collective Intelligence Program (CIP) to jointly promote trustworthy AI, applying AI to enhance government services and foster diverse innovation, thereby strengthening collective intelligence to assist in mutual understanding and addressing challenges collectively. Consequently, the moda is establishing an AI Evaluation Center and is inviting citizens to discuss issues such as information integrity. This initiative aims to promote nationwide participation in discussing the direction of AI development and creating trustworthy AI tools, fostering an open, diverse, inclusive, and secure digital environment.

Minister Tang mentioned that to enhance public-private collaboration, the moda is initiating a public code policy that involves releasing non-sensitive government systems or software code to the public. Through open programming, sharing, and feedback mechanisms, this initiative aims to enhance the transparency of government code and improve the quality and efficiency of digital technology services across departments. The moda officially launched the Taiwan Public Code Platform (code.gov.tw) in April. The moda collaborates with central and local governments, engaging citizens through initiatives such as the Presidential Hackathon and civic test sites to encourage participation in addressing everyday challenges.

The "AI Expo for National Competitiveness" of this year featured esteemed guests, including Liz Sherwood-Randall, Homeland Security Advisor to the President of the United States; Anne Neuberger, Deputy National Security Advisor for Cyber and Emerging Technology; and Lee Jong-Ho, Minister of the Ministry of Science and ICT of South Korea, among others. Representatives from industry leaders such as OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Meta, NVIDIA, and more were also invited to participate. Eric Schmidt, Chairman of SCSP, attended to engage in discussions about the future of AI with various stakeholders. The expo also included booths from industry players showcasing their innovative technological achievements, aiming to facilitate dialogue among experts from both the public and private sectors and the general public.