24 Hours to COMPUTEX 2022 - Pre-Show Press Conference Focuses on Trust, Resilience, and Cooperation

Asia’s leading B2B ICT exhibition, COMPUTEX TAIPEI will return to the showgrounds from May 24 to 27 in Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center Hall 1 (TaiNEX 1). One of t he organizers, Taipei Computer Association (TCA) stated that the event will return in a hybrid format, with the COMPUTEX TAIPEI event taking place on site and the COMPUTEX CYBERWORLD platform hosting the online exhibition as well as other COMPUTEX events.

This year, the pre-show Global Press Conference was held on May 23 with a panel discussion featuring Mr. Paul S.L. Peng, Chairman of TCA and CEO of AUO; Mr. Barry Lam, Chairman & CEO of Quanta Computer; Dr. Tzi-cker Chiueh, Director General of Delta Research Center; Mr. CK Tseng, President of Arm Taiwan; and Mr. Ken Sun, General Manager of Microsoft Taiwan. The panel discussion was moderated by Mr. James Huang, Chairman of Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA); a co-organizer of COMPUTEX.

The panel discussed the effects of the latest macroeconomic trends including lockdowns in various countries, geopolitical unrest, and the ongoing pandemic. According to Mr. Peng, the macroeconomic trends can be opportunities for Taiwan’s ICT industries. Taiwan has several advantages in the ICT industry, such as the reliable supply chain, great talents, and agile economic environment.

Mr. Peng also shared his insight on how Taiwan can help businesses. Taiwan has played an important role in the global ICT supply chain for over 40 years and is recognized as a trustworthy, efficient, and reliable supply-chain partner. Key technologies such as semiconductor and display technology are the main foundations for Taiwan's industries to develop smart application technologies. Areas where semiconductors are combined with software and security technologies are Taiwan’s key strengths and now many startups are developing their businesses based on these technologies. Taiwan is a trustworthy partner and rebuilding resilience is the key to overcoming challenges.

Mr. Barry Lam said that the pandemic has shifted the customers’ needs to requiring more mobile and cloud computing. Metaverse focused computing will also be essential in the future. One of the key challenges today is supply chain disruption which might happen unexpectedly and one way to overcome it is by employing smart manufacturing systems to reduce downtime and mitigate uncertainties.

Mr. CK Tseng shared his opinion that several ongoing trends today will necessitate stronger and more robust automation; with many use cases that require a lot of computing and AI. There are a lot of untapped opportunities, but partnerships might be able to unlock various potentials with digital resilience. The new normal means cooperation will be the key to success. It is also important to embrace and trust the open community

Mr. Sun stated that navigating the new normal means customers will have new priorities going forward. Every company must build tech intensity to jumpstart growth which consists of 3 aspects: building tech adoption, tech capability, and tech adoption multiplied by trust. During the pandemic, businesses go through 3 phases respond, recover, and reimagine. The reimagining phases focuses on building resilience and co-inventing the future of the industry.

Dr. Chiueh said that businesses might need to change their priority to achieve success. The example he gave is in his organization that shifts from developing new proprietary technologies to developing brand new product lines in the form of systems, solutions, and services. Businesses will also need to be forward thinking and face the emerging societal problems that everyone will inevitably face such as energy storage, EV, AV, geriatric care, and especially decarbonization. Resilience focuses on a corporation’s ability to adapt and navigate uncertainties. In this age, resilience will rely on redundancies and margin, as well as adaptability to external factors. Technologies such as IoT will be instrumental in building up real time and all-encompassing intelligence.

Mr. Huang summarized the panel discussion by quoting Einstein’s saying “You can't use an old map to explore a new world”. In these uncertain times, a new playbook or map is certainly necessary and COMPUTEX aims to help businesses tackle future challenges.

COMPUTEX TAIPEI begins on May 24 in TaiNEX 1, 4F and will also be available in an online format via the COMPUTEX CYBERWORLD. Interested parties are invited to join us onsite or online and we hop to see you in COMPUTEX 2022.

Watch the full press conference here.