2022-03-14

Steven Ho was named as TiEA's fourth chairman, swearing to break new ground for the development of Taiwan's digital industry, with "Web2.5" as the central theme.

Today, Taiwan Internet and e-Commerce Association (TiEA), the association which brings together the largest number of digital industry players in Taiwan, held its 4th inaugural general meeting and re-election of directors and supervisors. Steven Ho, the chairman of 91APP was elected as the fourth new chairman of the board, and the vice-chairmen are Alex Liu, CEO of MaiCoin, and Mingming Chen, CEO of KKday. The new board of directors and supervisors comprises individuals from international Internet firms, Taiwan e-Commerce enterprises, digital companies, and innovative industries such as blockchain, SaaS, and AI.

"I appreciated the third chairman Sega Chen and all the directors as well as supervisors for their efforts to the association and the encouragement of the growth of Taiwan's digital economy," Steven remarked. " TiEA has been established for ten years. The first founding chairman, Hung-Tze Jan, had a big goal when he started the association. The association gathered industrial strength under the leadership of the second chairman, Jamie Lin, and the third chairman, Sega Chen, to help members stand solidly in the 'Web2' wave. The next decade will usher in a new age of 'Web3' with the rise of blockchain and NFT, yet there is still a significant gap between 2 and 3. As a result, the organization will employ the 'Web2.5' as its core to continue the Web2 and open up the Web3, as well as assist members' companies in leapfrogging and upgrading, and encourage Taiwan's digital industry's development.”

In an era of the Internet, how can the association assist members in moving from 'Web2' to 'Web3'? A new force is required to inherit the past as well as the future, according to Steven Ho. Currently, Taiwan's largest cryptocurrency exchange "MaiCoin", Taiwan's largest youth community "Dcard", top Blockchain cross-border trading platform "XREX", SaaS star and Presidential Innovation Award winner "Gogolook", food-and-beverage technology rising star "inline", the world's leading consulting firm "BCG" with extensive experience in digital transformation consulting, and other newly elected directors are collaborating to boost Taiwan's digital development activities and ambitions.

Besides the functioning of the current committees, three new working groups will be introduced in the association's organization section: "Blockchain," "SaaS," and "Digital Transformation." Taiwan has already established itself as a hub for blockchain companies. Blockchain may link cutting-edge technology and the best talent in the world. Wayne Huang, the CEO of XREX, will convene the blockchain working group to organize and promote the project.

The worldwide Internet sector has embraced SaaS and cloud services, but Taiwan is still in its infancy. Jeff Guo, CEO of Gogolook, will convene the SaaS working group in order to help additional Taiwanese entrepreneurs and associated businesses build on their success. JT Hsu, managing director and partner of BCG, will lead the digital transformation working group. Pandemic has been accelerating the digital transformation of all industries including organization implementation, remote work, talent recruitment, operational management, and so forth. Therefore, the association will also aggressively carry out related promotion strategies in the future.

Steven noted that Taiwan's new economy is shaped largely by the Internet software and digital industries, and TiEA had been continually communicated with the government. In Taiwan, there are several good soft-skills enterprises, all of which want to receive government backing. He believes that Taiwan needs to keep up with global digital economy trends in order to become global. With the joint efforts of TiEA and others, the "moda", Ministry of Digital Affairs, which is in charge of the national digital development policy, will be listed this year. Steven is ecstatic to see this as well. He hopes that when moda is officially listed, it would give attention to the potential and energy of Taiwan's digital startups and related companies, and incorporate the Internet software digital industry into the national key strategic industry, making Taiwan a world-leading digital economic powerhouse.

Looking forward to the future, Steven expects TiEA to become the largest engine for the development of Taiwan's digital industry. In addition to continuing to be a voice for the industry, it will also encourage the integration of Internet generations and information sharing, as well as a variety of themed events to allow all TiEA members and more industry players who need digital transformation and actively invest in digital development to collaborate, leading to the iteration of industry innovation.

Moreover, Steven will also use "Web2.5" as the core of boosting digital development and connecting the power of relevant public associations, all within the strategic framework of collaboratively advancing digital transformation and development, to create more opportunities for collaboration and resource channels for members, to support the industry's joint development, and to not only exercise the association's impact, but also to promote the entire industry's upward progress. With the leadership of three-term chairmen, TiEA has become the greatest association in Taiwan's Internet industry. In the fourth session of TiEA, it will continue to provide the best services to members, including "fireside chats" and social networking activities for company growth, legal interpretation, and relevant rules and information exchange, among other things. For members to nurture industrial energy in TiEA's digital foundation, collaborate on industrial upgrading, and accelerate Taiwan's digital growth.