Microsoft has announced the official launch of its IoT Innovation Center in Taiwan at the company’s IoT Expo in Taipei, as the company aims to establish a foothold in Asia to tap into the global IoT market and accelerate IoT deployment with partners worldwide.
The Microsoft IoT Innovation Center – which has been established in partnership will the Taiwan government – will operate as a “federated lab” to accelerate IoT development, acting as a link between local IoT partners and the outside world, with its missions being R&D project integration, technology development, and international collaboration.
The implementation results will be reported directly to Microsoft headquarters, and the center will play a strategic role in IoT development, Microsoft said in a statement.
Also, because field- and scenario-specific IoT solutions need to be tested, verified, and improved with actual clients’ projects, Microsoft IoT Innovation Center has set up the IoT Community Lab, providing partners with IoT technology training of various difficulty levels and professional consultation, and three IoT Scenario Labs, delivering tailor-made services, such as technology development, architecture design, and business consultation.
“The development of IoT industry requires the connection and integration of partners in multiple fields as well as the resources from the industry, government, and academia both in Taiwan and abroad,” said Cathy Yeh, Principal PM Manager, Cloud Enterprise Product Group, Internet of Things Innovation Center. “Microsoft IoT Innovation Center operates as a ‘federated lab’, meaning that in addition to the central office, representative partners in other fields, such as smart manufacturing, smart healthcare, transportation, retail and life, as well as startups and key research institutes all contribute to establishing labs. Through technology transfer, educational training, facility sharing, middleware development, and collaborative projects, these labs work as a federation. They learn from each other to develop hardware, software, and services needed for IoT solutions.”
Jong-chin Shen, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), said, “The government partners with Microsoft in building the Microsoft IoT Innovation Center in hope of leveraging Microsoft’s R&D capability, cloud services, and data analytics to integrate the IoT supply chain. The ultimate goal is to transform Taiwan’s hardware- and component-centric business model into platform-based or vertically-integrated solutions. We aspire to create value with local IoT players and provide global IoT solutions to strive for the lasting business visions.”
“To promote the development of IoT ecosystem in Taiwan, Microsoft has adopted the ‘outside-in’ strategy by bringing in global demand as a stimulus to Taiwanese companies, driving them to enter the global IoT market,” said Steven Shaw, General Manager of Microsoft Taiwan. “Following the relocation of Microsoft’s office on September 8, which materialized digital transformation with a cloud-based, smart, and flexible workspace, today we are pleased to launch the new Microsoft IoT Innovation Center at Microsoft Taiwan. This office is easily accessible by partners and clients, and it integrates the existing IoT resources and designs IoT services.”
Microsoft said is teaming up with local partners in Taiwan to develop IoT solutions to be implemented globally. Partners named in the press release include Advantech, NEC, Nexcom, Aopen Australia and Trend Micro.
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