To support the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation’s (APEC) mission on regional human resource development and educational cooperation, the Ministry of Education hosted the 2023 Industry-Academia Collaboration Workshop from August 31 to September 1. The workshop aimed to demonstrate how to narrow the skills gap and cultivate digital and AI talents through higher education, providing an in-depth introduction to the collaborative model between the academia sector and industry sector in our country. The workshop attracted 21 representatives from 11 APEC member economies and 102 domestic participants.

Lio Mon-chi, Political Deputy Minister of Education, indicated that as digitalization has been integrated into all facets of people’s lives and continues to expand into uncharted waters, new demands and challenges are driving all APEC economies to incorporate new models of AI-enabled technology and talent-driven competition. “The 2023 workshop focuses on addressing such issues by first examining the digital talent demand in APEC economies and beyond, and then delving into the transformational technology in inclusive talent development," said Lio.

The workshop covered topics such as AI applications in education, sustainable technological advancement and talent development, and AI technology in sustainable development. Best practices of the industry-academia cooperative model in the region were shared during the workshop, including the intelligent robotic technology program at Lunghwa University of Science and Technology, AI technology development at National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, and digital and AI talent cultivation in Malaysian higher education institutes. The second day of the event featured a field visit to the City Science Lab @ Taipei Tech, a cross-disciplinary R&D laboratory jointly established by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and National Taipei University of Technology (Taipei Tech).

The Ministry of Education stated that this workshop will serve as a platform for sharing and exchanging ideas among APEC member economies. It will facilitate dialogue and experience sharing among government agencies, business representatives, and academic institutions from various APEC member economies. The collaborative initiatives between industry and academia and talent development models discussed throughout the workshop will lay the groundwork for potential cooperative opportunities between our country and the regional partners. Through the tightly-knit cross-regional communication network with other economies, we will forge connections for cross-regional talent development, nurture innovative talents aligned with industry demands, and establish sustainable development for digital and AI-enabled talents.