On the morning of December 23rd, the 2023 CTCI Foundation Science and Technology Scholarship Award Ceremony was held in the Taipei International Convention Center (TICC), Taipei. More than 270 people, including special guests, advisors of scholarship recipients, family members, CTCI Foundation directors, and colleagues, attended the ceremony.
The Chairman of the CTCI Foundation, Dr. Wen-Ent Pan, mentioned that the scholarship has been awarded continuously for 61 years since its inception in 1963. In recent years, CTCI Foundation has allocated an annual budget of over 30 million NT dollars for expenses related to technology and education. Among these expenditures, scholarships amounting to over ten million NT dollars are awarded each year. The cumulative number of scholarship recipients has exceeded 4,000, and these outstanding talents are distributed across various fields in government, industry, academia, and research, making significant contributions to domestic technological progress and industrial development.
Additionally, to cultivate practical talents in line with industry needs, the CTCI Foundation has introduced the "Scholarship Award for Excellence in Technical and Vocational Skills" this year. This scholarship primarily aims to reward students from university-industry collaboration industrial classes who demonstrate exceptional skills, encouraging their entry into the workforce. In the future, the CTCI Foundation will continue to advance and enrich talents, making greater contributions to talent cultivation and industrial development.
The former Vice President, Mr. Vincent Siew, said in his speech that under the leadership of Chairman Pan, the CTCI Foundation has been keeping pace with the times and nurtured scientific and technological talents. Mr. Siew hopes that the CTCI Foundation will continue its commitment to diverse talent development, becoming an exemplary public foundation. He also invoked Mr. Kwoh-Ting Li's proposition that "innovation in technology relies on talent" to encourage students. Mr. Siew wishes that they will exhibit forward-thinking and perseverance in achieving their goals, driven by an unwavering belief in themselves.
The keynote speaker, the Academician of Academia Sinica, Dr. Pan-Chyr Yang, gave a speech on the subject of "Opportunities for the Development of AI and Precision Health Biomedical Industries in Taiwan." Dr. Yang stated that in the era of rapid global development in the biomedical industry, Taiwan should take the lead as the initial market for biomedical development. He emphasized the importance of conducting comprehensive verification, guidance, and establishing mechanisms for industry applications and market access. Additionally, he highlighted the need to align with the New Southbound Policy to expand international channels. To enable our country’s biomedical industry to expand beyond Taiwan's borders, efforts should be made to overcome challenges and obstacles in talent, regulations, scale, and distribution channels.
Dr. Yang concluded by pointing out that Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) has become the new international standard for medical data exchange. Taiwan's healthcare institutions still need to strengthen in this regard, especially as the U.S.-based TriNetX platform has entered Taiwan, collaborating with multiple Taiwanese hospitals. Dr. Yang urged reflection on whether Taiwan, by not establishing a national-level big data company, might become a colony of international AI companies in the future.
This year, a total of 119 outstanding students were awarded scholarships: 23 for the Research Scholarship, 40 for the Innovation Scholarship (comprising 14 teams), 22 for the Research Scholarship for Overseas Students, 11 for the Bursary Award for Overseas Students, and 23 for the Scholarship Award for Excellence in Technical and Vocational Skills. Students of the first three types of scholarships received NT$150,000 and a certificate of merit each, students of the fourth type of scholarship received NT$100,000 each, and students of the fifth type of scholarship received NT$50,000 and a certificate of merit each.
The theme of the 2023 CTCI Foundation AI Innovation Competition was “AI and Teaching”. The first, second, and third prize were NT$400,000, NT$300,000, and NT$200,000, respectively, while the honorable mention was NT$50,000. A total of 7 pieces of work from 36 teachers and students shared the prizes.
The award presenters this year included the Former Vice President Mr. Vincent Siew, the Chairman of the CTCI Foundation Dr. Wen-Ent Pan, the Chairman of CTCI Group Mr. John Yu, the President of National Central University Dr. Jing-Yang Jou, the Chancellor of Fo Guang Shan University Consortium Dr. Chaur-Shin Yung, and the Chancellor of University System of Taiwan Dr. Lih-Juann Chen. More than 20 distinguished guests, including the scholarship recipients' advisors, also were invited to the award ceremony to congratulate the students. The ceremony concluded cozily.
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