Taiwan to nurture digital talent in four-year plan

The other goals in the plan include expanding the efforts to recruit international talent and improving the nation’s bilingual education. 

These goals would work towards making Taiwan more competitive and ensure it plays a crucial role in the dynamic restructuring of the global supply chain, the council said.  

Lin Chih-mei, director of the council’s department of human resource development, said one of the first things the council needs to do is to come up with a clear definition of “digital talent”. She said the council will work with other government agencies and experts from various fields on this issue. 

“After all, the digital competencies needed in the cultural sector and in the information and communications industry vary immensely,” she said, adding that there is a shortage of skilled workers, particularly in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

The percentage of college graduates in STEM fields was about 30% last year, Lin said, which is “really not enough to meet the future need for digital talent”. As such, the government has embarked on this four-year plan to meet the dearth in digital talent. 

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Another goal in the four-year plan is to push for amendments to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals to facilitate the process for foreign talent to work in Taiwan. 

Besides the four-year plan, the government is considering setting up a semiconductor academy. Vice Premier Shen Jong-chin and representatives from the semiconductor industry have met to discuss how the government, academia and the industry can contribute to the setting up of this semiconductor academy.