Taiwan Gov't Continues Stepping up Development of Local Telematics Industry

With vehicle telematics, or the electronics and computerization in cars, continuing to grow as a promising sector, whose iconic applications include GPS tracking and gradually the building of autonomous cars, and Taiwanese suppliers being part of the growing market, Prime Minister Mao Chi-kuo recently asked related government bodies such as the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC), etc. to accelerate their efforts in helping establish a telematics line with distinctive characteristics.

Industry insiders said that Mao is optimistic about some special telematics applications developed by local companies, such as the electronic toll collection (ETC) or the eTag toll-collecting solutions that are expected to wield strong global competitiveness.

Mao recently convened a project meeting to hear reports about the development of intelligent transportation on the island. MOTC officials said there are mainly three goals to the intelligent transportation plan: integration of various kinds of traffic information throughout the island into one public platform; further expansion of the ETC application on the island and working to export such toll collection system to the international market; and investing in various efforts to bring the telematics era to the island.

The Prime Minster asked related government units to set clear directions for developing the telematics industry on the island, as well as continue to consider earlier issues such as installing telematics onboard units on older cars, setting up cloud platforms etc.

MOTC officials pointed out that telematics has been a frontline issue in recent years, and the potentially lucrative telematics application market has drawn big international enterprises such as Google, Apple, BMW, etc. to launch application products. In addition, the officials added, the U.S. and many European nations have been stepping up efforts to set up telematics-related standards to realize innovative V2V (vehicle to vehicle), V2P (vehicle to pedestrian), V2I (vehicle to infrastructure) applications as soon as possible.

Progress

Both the MOEA and MOTC have been aggressively trying to promote the development of the telematics industry in Taiwan. The former has been subsidizing different R&D projects through its Technology Development Program (TDP), while the latter is trying to introduce different telematics technologies to the highway network throughout Taiwan.

Industry sources pointed out that some key factors might influence the successful development of the telematics industry and market in Taiwan, including continued technological breakthroughs; fewer constraints by governmental policies, legislations and regulations; effective demonstration locations and areas; and consumers' acceptance and willingness to pay for telematics applications.

Taiwan in fact, the sources stressed, is advantageously positioned to develop a homegrown telematics industry, thanks mainly to the comprehensive and well-established information and communication technology (ICT) and automotive-electronic industries. The officials added that key elements in the telematics industry include navigation systems, image recognition systems, telematics onboard units, automotive connectors, automotive-use tablet PCs, automotive semiconductors and chipsets, telecom modules and services, automotive-application DRAM memory chips, wireless communication modules, tire pressure monitoring systems (TPMS),etc., all of which have already been developed and manufactured by many local companies.