Deputy Minister Lin Yi-jing (front, center) of the Ministry of Digital Affairs is joined by other academics, experts, officials and business representatives at the 2024 Taiwan Digital Wallet International Forum Dec. 11 in Taipei City. (Courtesy of MODA)
 

The 2024 Taiwan Digital Wallet International Forum was hosted by the Ministry of Digital Affairs Dec. 11 in Taipei City, highlighting government work to explore opportunities for cross-border collaboration and create a global digital trust ecosystem.

According to the MODA, high-profile participants included representatives from northern Taiwan’s Hsinchu County-based Industrial Technology Research Institute, the neighboring National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University (NYCU) and Taipei-headquartered Chunghwa Telecom Co., Ltd. (CHT), as well as experts from Google LLC and the OpenID Foundation, among others. The discussion topics ranged from global applications of digital certificates and identification standards to the balance between privacy protection and the convenience of use, it added.

During his opening remarks, MODA Deputy Minister Lin Yi-jing said that digital certificates are the cornerstone of a digital society, and that an effective system can strengthen personal information protection through selective disclosure. The interoperability of such systems will also further improve the efficiency of the digital economy, he added.

The one-day event comprised three keynote speeches, two panel discussions and a fireside chat. Naohiro Fujie, chair of the OpenID Foundation Japan, shared Japanese experiences of achieving interoperability with the current ecosystems, while Markus Sabadello, founder of Austria-based Danube Tech, talked about the EU’s digital identity wallet and the pursuit of self-sovereignty, and experts from CHT, NYCU and the Taipei-headquartered design company DreamVok discussed creating a citizen-first digital wallet blueprint.

The panel discussions focused on ways to build a cross-domain ecosystem for digital wallets and a trusted digital economy ecosystem, the MODA said, adding that the fireside chat stressed the importance of digital footprints, antitracking and privacy enhancement.

The MODA praised the forum’s success and pledged to continue promoting relevant policies to create a safe, interoperable and trustworthy digital economic ecosystem. (YCH-E)