Microsoft announced another major milestone in its “Reimagine Taiwan” initiative, including plans to establish its first cloud datacenter region in Taiwan and a significant investment in local talent and development with the goal to provide digital skilling for over 200,000 people in Taiwan by 2024. Additionally, Microsoft is growing its Taiwan Azure Hardware Systems and Infrastructure engineering group, which will establish Microsoft Taiwan as a hub in Asia for innovation in designing and building advanced cloud software and hardware infrastructure spanning AI, IoT and edge solutions.
The new investment adds to Microsoft’s significant and recent investments in Taiwan, including the IoT Innovation Center, AI Research and Development Center, Startup Accelerator and the IoT Center of Excellence. Today’s announcement represents a new commitment in Microsoft’s more than 30-year history in Taiwan to fuel new growth that will accelerate digital transformation of Taiwan’s public and private sectors, helping customers to reimagine their future by providing access to highly secured enterprise-grade cloud services. In addition, Microsoft’s ambitious new skilling plan will help to cultivate and groom tech talent, increasing future employability opportunities for the people of Taiwan. According to a recent IDC study, over the next four years, Microsoft, its ecosystem and cloud customers together will generate more than $10 billion in new revenue and will add over 30,000 jobs to the Taiwan economy.
“Technology has a critical role to play in supporting economic recovery and opportunity everywhere. Microsoft is committed to fostering local innovation to support digital transformation across the public and private sectors in Taiwan. Our new investment in Taiwan reflects our faith in its strong heritage of hardware and software integration. With Taiwan’s expertise in hardware manufacturing and the new datacenter region, we look forward to greater transformation, advancing what is possible with 5G, AI and IoT capabilities spanning the intelligent cloud and intelligent edge,” said Jean-Phillippe Courtois, Executive Vice President and President, Microsoft Global Sales, Marketing and Operations.
Accelerating digital transformation and innovation across industries in Taiwan
Microsoft will deliver highly secure and scalable cloud services that will help customers to reimagine their businesses and innovate with confidence, adding Taiwan to its global-scale cloud, which now totals 66 cloud regions announced. Microsoft Azure is an ever-expanding set of cloud services that offers computing, networking, databases, analytics, AI and Internet of Things (IoT) services. Microsoft 365 is the world’s productivity cloud that delivers best-of-breed productivity apps integrated through cloud services, delivered as part of an open platform for business processes. Dynamics 365 and Power Platform are the next generation of intelligent business applications that enable organizations to grow, evolve and transform to meet the needs of customers. At launch, the new region will deliver Microsoft Azure first with Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365 and Power Platform services to follow.
Microsoft will help customers to store data at rest in Taiwan and over 90 compliance certifications to meet a broad range of industry and regulatory entity standards, under Taiwan’s executive branch of government, the Executive Yuan. As part of Microsoft’s global commitment to be carbon negative by 2030, the company will shift to 100 percent supply of renewable energy for its datacenters by 2025. Microsoft is also empowering its ecosystem and supply chain to be more sustainable. To support customer needs for high-availability and resiliency in their applications, the new region will also include Availability Zones, which are unique physical locations of datacenters with independent power, network and cooling for additional tolerance to datacenter failures.
Leading local companies across sectors have worked closely with Microsoft to create customized solutions for their customers, including: Acer, ASUS, Chunghwa Telecom, Delta Electronics, FarEasTone Telecommunications, TECO Electric & Machinery Co. Ltd, Trend Micro, Taiwan Mobile and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company.
“Acer is excited that Microsoft is establishing a datacenter region in Taiwan, and we look forward to furthering our partnership to help enterprises on their digital transformation path with cloud and smart technologies, fulfilling our mission of breaking barriers between people and technology,” said Jason Chen, Chairman and CEO of Acer.
“Chunghwa Telecom and Microsoft have closely collaborated in areas including private enterprise networks, edge computing, smart manufacturing and smart energy, and provided vertically integrated solutions and applications. Azure’s advanced cloud services, combined with Chunghwa Telecom’s telecommunications and operations expertise, will undoubtedly accelerate innovation across Taiwan’s industries and ecosystem, bringing Taiwan’s best-in-class solutions to the Asia pacific region and the world,” said Hong-Chan Ma Senior Executive Vice President, Chunghwa Telecom.
“FarEasTone Telecom is pleased to have formed a strategic alliance with Microsoft. Our core strategy of Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things and world-class telecommunications networks leverages Azure’s cloud platform to create innovative solutions from the intelligent cloud to the intelligent edge. With the local datacenter region, we hope to generate greater momentum for Taiwan’s innovation, by creating diverse services suitable for a wide range of industry scenarios, connect Taiwan to the globe, and make it a hub for the world’s innovative applications,” FarEasTone Telecommunications, President Chee Ching.
Ken Sun, General Manager of Microsoft Taiwan said, “I’m confident that providing access to scalable, low-latency, and secure cloud services will equip Taiwan’s public and private sectors with the latest AI and IoT technologies, while meeting the highest cybersecurity, data residency and compliance standards. Building a world-class, enterprise grade cloud marks an important step toward the digitalization of Taiwan’s key industries. Microsoft is committed to fuelling innovation and economic growth in Taiwan as it transforms into the next Asian technology hub.”
Advancing employment opportunities through local skilling
Microsoft plans to upskill over 200,000 people in Taiwan over the next four years, providing digital skills acquisition programs for youth, non-profits, startups and enterprises. This builds on Microsoft’s investment in local skilling programs for students, including internship programs, STEM Education, and Coding Angels. Microsoft will continue working with non-profit organizations including the Build the Future, Eden Social Welfare Associate, Taipei Orphan Foundation and Taiwan Fund for Children and Families to reskill social workers. In collaboration with leading universities, Microsoft plans to upskill business leaders, entrepreneurs, and C-level executives through the AI Business School program. Finally, Microsoft is working with industry associations to launch a series of re-skilling workshops for women, including mothers returning to the workplace.
[1] IDC Info Snapshot, sponsored by Microsoft, “The Microsoft Cloud Dividend Snapshot: Taiwan,” Doc. #US46913920, October 2020
About Microsoft
Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) enables digital transformation for the era of an intelligent cloud and an intelligent edge. Its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.
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