TAIPEI (Taiwan New) — The Ministry of Science and Technology’s (MOST) Cyber Security and Smart Technology Research and Development Building in Tainan’s Shalun held its opening ceremony on Friday (Dec. 24).

The building, situated within the Shalun Smart Green Energy Science City, will host the Taiwan Tech Arena’s (TTA) south Taiwan headquarters, according to MOST. The building will be a hub for high-tech industry as well as start-up companies in southern Taiwan.

President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), Minister of Science and Technology Wu Tsung-tsong (吳政忠), Tainan City Mayor Huang Wei-che (黃偉哲), as well as business leaders such as Stan Shih (施振榮), Acer founder and honorary chair, and Digiforen Technology Chairman, I-Mei Foods General Manager Luis Ko (高志明) attended and spoke at the opening ceremony.

President Tsai Ing-wen speaks at the opening ceremony. (Taiwan News photo)

Minister of Science and Technology Wu Tsung-tsong hopes to help develop the high-tech industry in south Taiwan. (Taiwan News photo)

Wu said he hopes that international resources linked to TTA will migrate south to promote the development of local start-up teams as well as to establish south Taiwan as a new international base for innovative technology. Additionally, with the ongoing development of the metaverse, one must also infuse humanistic ideas into new technology to aid its growth.

Shih reiterated the humanistic aspect of technology, citing the evolving slogans for Taiwan to become an island of technology, of humanistic technology, to an Eastern civilization of silicon. He said Taiwan has taken up a key role within the metaverse, and must forge its own, humanistic path in the development of relevant technology.

Ko said that we live in an age where “The Truman Show” has been realized, and the government must not only see what is “big” within the metaverse, but also see what is small — such as nanotechnology. He added that as the metaverse comes with several opportunities and a solid foundation for entrepreneurship, where professionalism and skills must be valued, even more important is cyber security — government entities must also be ready to tackle new forms of crime.

Digiforen Technology Chairman Luis Ko speaks at the opening ceremony. (Taiwan News photo)

Digiforen Technology showcases the company's work. (Taiwan News photo)