4
In accordance with trends in the global information
economy, as well as high levels of development in
Taiwan’s own ICT industry, we assist our partner countries
to improve their ICT capacity, reduce development gaps
and cultivate their digital capabilities, which together
represent an indicator of the pursuit and further upgrading
of our foreign aid operations.
Improving Administrative Efficiency by Assisting
Partners to Build E-government Systems:
Drawing on Taiwan’s experience in developing
e-government, we are supporting the governments of
our partner countries to expand their public services via
ongoing technical cooperation. We are also introducing
technologies and resources from across the private sector
to assist partner countries within different regions to
develop ICT and exploit its applications. Our ICT Technical
Cooperation Project, for example, aims to establish a
National ICT Center in St. Lucia in the Caribbean. The
project includes the development of an e-government
system and the introduction of administrative applications
such as an advanced transport licensing authority system,
a crime management system, a civil status registry
system, an agriculture resource system and other related
e-government systems. The purpose of the project is to
develop an environment in which the use of electronic
applications may flourish, and thereby improve the
transparency of information at a government level, as well
as improve the government’s administrative efficiency.
Medium- to Long-term Investment of Resources:
The development of the ICT sector takes place
over different stages and is closely linked to the
quality of infrastructure and national human resources.
However, most of our partners are at the initial stages
of developing their ICT sectors and are limited by a
number of constraints. For these reasons, ICT projects
must be comprehensive and take medium- to long-term
planning and the investment of resources into account.
For example, our ICT Technical Cooperation Project
in Belize, which has been under implementation since
2007, has centered on the construction of a National ICT
Center and the development of e-government systems.
Project handover was completed during 2012. Based on
this successful implementation, which has received the
plaudits of the government of Belize, the second phase of
this cooperative project will take the medium- to long-term
development of the country into account, focusing on the
further development of existing systems to ensure that
the public can be provided with convenient services in
keeping with international standards.
Strengthening Capacity Building:
Since human resources are crucial assets for the
development of ICT, some of our most important tasks
involve training government employees to operate
e-facilities and enhancing their capacity to use ICT
applications, in addition to assisting in the construction of
knowledge management and work platforms. The purpose
of such training is to ensure that projects can be handed
over to local specialists, so as to improve governments’
administrative efficiency and enhance such countries’
ICT competitiveness. In both Belize and St. Lucia, for
example, we have already completed the transfer of
educational and training courses. Now, these partners
can design ICT training courses of their own, using their
ICT centers as a base from which to train and educate
governmental officials to improve ICT-related capacity,
and marching forward toward independent, sustainable
forms of ICT development.
Assisting Regional Integration:
We assist our partner countries to manage and
develop regionwide forms of ICT, as well as improve
links and interaction with international organizations,
including the acquisition, integration and application of
resources. To do this, we have developed a systematic
and professional training system, offering technology
and management workshops and organizing exchanges
of technology, research and development and training
activities. Moreover, we have successfully established
a positive image for Taiwan by offering assistance to
developing countries and helping them to develop their
soft power.
Information and Communications Technology
Special Reports - Information and Communications Technology
52
