Enabling Social Impact With AI+IoT For Smart & Connected Cities
August 10, 2018, Taipei — Taiwan's Small and Medium Enterprise Administration (SMEA), MOEA, today announced that it has won the rights to host the 2018 GEC+ Taipei, one of the world's most important events for startups, connecting global entrepreneurs, policy makers, and educators to foster innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystems while creating massive social impact. GEC+TAIPEI 2018 will take place at the Taipei International Convention Center (TICC) from September 26-29, and will feature a series of events to celebrate entrepreneurs' creativity and innovation in the region.
The first international press conference hosted today (Aug 10) by the Ministry of Economic Affairs featured distinguished guests from the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), Minister without Portfolio Audrey Tang, and Vice Minister of the MOEA, Ming-Hsin Kung, as well as leaders of Taiwan's startup ecosystems.
Each year, the Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN) hosts a premier annual gathering of startup champions dedicated to building and strengthening entrepreneurial ecosystems called the Global Entrepreneurship Congress (GEC) with delegates from over 170 countries. The growth of GEC over the past 10 years has created demand for more in-depth collaboration on key issues emerging from the GEC, which has led to the birth of annual GEC+ events.
The first GEC+ was held in Daegu, South Korea in 2016. In 2017, two GEC+ events were held: One in Cape Town, South Africa, and the other Bangkok, Thailand. This year, Taiwan's SMEA, MOEA has officially won the rights to host GEC+ in Taipei.
The theme of GEC+ TAIPEI is "Enabling Social Impact with AI+IoT" and will take place at TICC from September 26-27. It will feature a number of events, including GEN Asia, GEC+ TAIPEI Forums, GEC+ TAIPEI Pitch Events, and a Linkou Startup Terrace Tour, focusing on insights and inspiration sharing in eight key areas: Future startup ecosystems, smart cities & towns, smart enterprises, cross-sector innovation, digital health & smart healthcare solutions, IoT & smart manufacturing, and blockchain.
As Dr. Ming-Ji Wu, Director General of SMEA, MOEA pointed out, GEC+ TAIPEI will be a critical platform connecting Taiwan's startup communities with the world. More than 400 government delegates, industrial leaders, academics, policymakers, and entrepreneurs will explore exciting new thinking, research insights for understanding the entrepreneurial mindset, and showcase best practices for creating social impact through creativity, innovation, and cutting-edge technology.
2018 GEC+ TAIPEI will take place in conjunction with Taiwan Innotech Expo (TIE), featuring a tech summit as part of the GEC+ TAIPEI Forums, and R&D highlights from government-sponsored research institutes. Most importantly, in addition to inviting well-known R&D institutes to collaborate with and invest in Taiwan enterprises, TIE and
GEC+TAIPEI will co-organize a week-long series of international pitch events promoting Taiwan and GEC+ startups to facilitate the growth of the country's startup ecosystem.
GEC+TAIPEI has received strong support from the Cabinet's Board of Science and Technology (BOST) to explore business partnership and collaboration opportunities in Asia, especially with ASEAN countries. As a result, GEC+TAIWAN is a joint effort between Taiwan governmental agencies, including the MOEA, local startup incubation centers, industry leaders including Chunghwa Telecom, as well as academics and research institutes including ITRI, III, and DCB, as well as the AI R&D centers of leading universities.
Official Spokesperson:
Ms. Pei-Ti Hu, Deputy Director General, SMEA, MOEA
Office Number: 02-23680816 ext 202
Email: bdhu@moea.gov.tw
Point of Contact:
Ms. Hsiu-Ling Huang, SMEA, MOEA
Office Number: 02-23680816 ext 375
Email: huang1013@moea.gov.tw
Media Contact:
Preparatory Office of GEC+ TAIPEI 2018
Ju-Yi Chao. chaojuyi@swem.com.tw
Adam Wang, adam@swem.com.tw
Phone: (02)2369-1318 ext103 or 105
