In recognition of the outstanding contribution of foreign IT companies to the transformation and upgrading of Taiwan's IT industry, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) will be hosting the 2015 IPO Awards Ceremony & Appreciation Banquet at 18:00 on November 11 at the Regent Taipei Hotel. A total of 17 distinguished foreign IT companies in Taiwan will receive the awards, which will be presented by Minister John Chen-chung Deng. The six awards include: "Technology Value-added Partners", "Green Systems Partners", "Strategic Point of Light Partners", "Market Expansion Partners", "Innovative Application Partners", and "Soft Values Partners".
Foreign IT companies have increased their procurement in Taiwan over the last decade. According to a survey by MIC (Market Intelligence & Consulting Institute) and the Institute for Information Industry, the amount of IPO procurement in Taiwan reached US$119.2 billion in 2014, up 27% year on year, with smart handheld devices registering the strongest growth. The awards ceremony is held in recognition of the MOEA's appreciation for the contributions of IPOs in forging a close, win-win partnership with Taiwanese companies. To encourage foreign IT companies to leverage Taiwanese vendors' resources and help transform Taiwan's ICT industry, this year's award evaluation has been expanded from procurement amount, technology optimization and green energy to "soft values" such as innovative applications, business model design, and user experience enhancement.
With the MOEA’s efforts to transform the IPO Awards since 2012, the relationship between foreign companies and Taiwanese vendors has shifted from “procurement” to “partnership”. At the same time, Taiwanese vendors have upgraded their soft power in addition to deepening their hardware capabilities. This year's IPO Award winners include IT companies Apple, Dell, HP, Intel, Qualcomm and TDK, cloud solution providers VMware, Microsoft, Google and AVID, as well as digital content developers. The award recipients are of considerable significance to the diverse development of Taiwan's IT hardware industry, with many collaborative projects making notable contributions to the transformation of Taiwan's IT industry.
Faced with profit margin squeeze in manufacturing, the ability to provide turnkey solutions and IT application services is crucial to the upgrading of the industry. In October 2014, the MOEA proposed the Action Plan for Industrial Upgrading and Transformation, which is intended to create bilateral cooperation between foreign and Taiwanese companies. Under this plan, Taiwanese companies are able to build up technological strength and competitiveness while playing a vital role in cloud computing, IoT, and big data trends. At the same time, it is set to help the Taiwanese IT industry develop advanced technologies and emerging technology applications and strive for higher added value.
In addition to paying tribute to foreign IT partners who have made great contributions to Taiwan's ICT industry, the award ceremony will also invite approximately 70 distinguished guests, including representatives of AIT (American Institute in Taiwan) and TEEMA (Taiwan's Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers' Association), as well as a number of Taiwan's IT leaders, namely Quanta, Compal, LiteOn, Wistron, Pegatron, Inventec, AUO, Delta Electronics, Tatung, Qisda, MSI, MiTAC-Synnex, Alpha Networks, Wistron ITS, MiTAC, Systex, and IISI (International Integrated Systems Inc). Also invited are government officials from the IDB (Industrial Development Bureau), DoIT (Department of Industrial Technology), Department of Investment Services, Investment Commission, and the Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection.