ITS Taiwan Promotes Smart Railway System
Organized by the ITS Taiwan Smart Railway Group and co-organized by MiTAC Information Technology and the Center for Intelligent Transportation and Rail Development of Chung Hua University, the “Seminar on Domestic Industry Promotion of Intelligent Railway Systems” was held on December 24, 2021, at MiTAC Information Technology’s headquarters building in Neihu. There were many distinguished guests, including Ministry of Transportation and Communications, Railway Bureau, Sinotech Engineering Consultants, Nippon Signal Technology Taiwan, Siemens, Hitachi Rail STS, Shihlin Electric, Rockwell and other companies in the rail industry.
The theme of this seminar is to promote smart railway systems in the domestic industry. Hosted by Chenqiu Zhang, CEO of the Center for Intelligent Transportation and Rail Systems, Chung Hua University. Zhixiang Wen, engineer and deputy director of the Railway Bureau, shared the issues of the domestic production of intelligent railways at the contract, price adjustment, and project management levels. Gensheng Lin, vice president of Sinotech Engineering Consultants, discussed the domestic production of signals, power supply, and maintenance technologies from real-life cases.
In addition to the exciting expert lectures, the guests also visited the multimedia exhibition hall of MiTAC Information Technology to learn more about the achievements and latest developments of MiTAC in the rail industry over the years. Chairman of the Board of Directors Liang Su stated that MiTAC Information Technology has been working in the field of intelligent transportation for many years, from the earliest days of signals, communication, and power supply to the most recent ticketing system that combines mobile payment. MiTAC is proud to contribute its more than 30 years of research and development experience, ranging from the degree of automation to the smartification of Taiwan’s rail system project.
In his opening remarks, Deputy Minister Xianglin Hu of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications thanked the members of the ITS Taiwan Smart Railway Group for their commitment to the smartifying and domestic production of railways over the past few years. The Ministry of Transportation and Communications also established the Transportation Technology Industry Report in 2019 and revised the Transportation Technology Industry Innovation Subsidy Key Points in an effort to encourage the industry and the academic and research community to continue to drive the implementation of smart technology in the rail industry. In addition, he emphasized that a review of the rail smartification and domestic production processes, including railway technology research, the development of validation standards, and the experience of related industry players, is deserving of consideration by other transportation technology industries.
CEO Chenqui Zhang stated that in order for Taiwan’s rail system to be produced domestically, domestic manufacturers must be incentivized to use more domestic equipment, or domestic manufacturers must be allowed to lead the relevant bids; then there is a chance that domestic production will exceed 50%. Consequently, he suggested that the rail electrical and mechanical system must incorporate the adjustment mechanism so that the relevant price fluctuation risk can be allocated. President Su Liang also emphasized that Taiwan’s ICT industry is brimming with vitality and expressed hope that future conditions will be more favorable for the development of the rail industry, allowing more ICT companies to contribute to the smartification and domestic production of railways.
