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Microsoft Launches the Biggest Developer Event in Asia, Taking IoT Development in Taiwan to New Heights

DevDays Asia 2016@Taipei leads industry partners to master big data and create value-added IoT business opportunities

TAIPEI, Taiwan, April 19, 2016 /PRNewswire/ — A memorandum of understanding on establishing an “IoT Industry Development Center” was inked in October of 2015 between Ministry of Economic Affairs, Taiwan and Microsoft, to effectively integrate global and local partners in the ecosystem and accelerate the processes of developing IoT solutions. Under the commitment to helping its industry partners in Taiwan obtain the development tools and the latest interoperability technology from Microsoft, DevDays Asia 2016 @ Taipei, directed by Industrial Development Bureau, and hosted by Microsoft and Digital Content Industry Promotion Office, is the biggest developer event in Asia and officially kick-offed today. It is also a clear evidence of the company’s commitment to the promotion of cross-platform interoperability, open specification and embracing openness. The event will last for three days and has attracted more than 300 software & hardware developers from various industries including telecommunication, hardware devices, peripheral equipment, IC manufacturing, finance & securities and system integration.

The first “DevDays Asia” opens up IoT business opportunities to partners

Taiwan Government, Microsoft and Taiwan-based industry partners joined forces in the kick-off press conference of DevDays Asia 2016@Taipei and celebrated the year of Productivity and IoT Application Development together. The event is the biggest in Asia and regarded as a diamond opportunity for developers to have access to various developing tools, face-to-face interactions with Microsoft’s 17 technical experts as well as hands-on experiences in workshops and the HAOkathon.

Taiwan Government, Microsoft and Taiwan-based industry partners joined forces in the kick-off press conference of DevDays Asia 2016@Taipei and celebrated the year of Productivity and IoT Application Development together. The event is the biggest in Asia and regarded as a diamond opportunity for developers to have access to various developing tools, face-to-face interactions with Microsoft’s 17 technical experts as well as hands-on experiences in workshops and the HAOkathon.

Microsoft has announced the plans to bring Microsoft Azure and SQL Server on Linux this year, and kicked off the certification program of Microsoft Azure Certified for IoT. Until now, 11 partners in Taiwan have joined the Microsoft Azure Certified for IoT program, which is to assist device manufacturers in rapid deployment of cloud solutions. With the programs put forward, Microsoft’s determined to benefit its partners, developers’ community and users through open technologies.

The first “DevDays Asia” will focus on two main themes: Productivity and Cloud & Data Platform. At DevDays Asia, 17 technical experts from Microsoft’s headquarters and product R&D divisions will give more than 30 sessions focusing on topics related to the latest open technologies on cross-platform and open specification such as Office 365, Machine Learning and Advanced Analytics, R and Python, SQL Server Protocol and OData Services. It is hoped that by these exchanges on technologies and the sharing of the latest applications on productivity and data & cloud platform, developers will be able to obtain insights into their daily practices and solve problems related to the implementation and deployment of IoT applications. Meanwhile, Microsoft will help software developers and hardware manufacturers in Taiwan to grow more business opportunities by integrating IoT development and applications based on intelligent cloud and connected devices.

“DevDays Asia’ signifies that Microsoft embraces openness through our actions and broader product roadmap. We work together with our partners to establish a complete IoT ecosystem through the exchange of technologies and the promotion of certification programs. For we understand that everything will be connected in the future, whether the back-end storage analytics or the front-end sensing devices. No single company can meet all the demands of IoT applications,” Steven Shaw, General Manager at Microsoft Taiwan, said. “Under the memorandum of understanding on establishing ‘IoT Industry Development Center with the MOEA’, Microsoft has continued to invest in and construct the infrastructures of IoT, which fast-tracks the establishment of this center. By connecting the devices and sensors manufactured by our partners, Microsoft hopes to integrate them with back-end systems and Microsoft Azure while providing solutions that enhance productivity at DevDays Asia, the biggest developer event in Asia. Together, we can create synergy on completing the IoT roadmap for Taiwan and yield better returns of the investment in IoT by partners.”

IoT Industry Development Center accelerates development and stimulates innovation that sets Taiwan on the world stage

Microsoft and the Ministry of Economic Affairs signed a memorandum of understanding on establishing an “IoT Industry Development Center” last year. Under the agreement, the center will focus on Intelligent, Integration and Internationalization for sectors spanning manufacturing, medical care, home life, smart retailing and public services, to effectively integrate Taiwan’s hardware and software partners and the power of start-ups, and therefore, accelerate the process of developing IoT solutions and smart connected devices. The center has achieved a number of significant progress since then: WinHec Workshop Taipei has attracted more than 500 developers from 80 partners; as of this year, 11 partners in Taiwan have joined in the program with a total of 32 certified devices, which drastically reduces the time and cost for connecting their devices to Microsoft Azure while taking advantages of the big data analytics and machine learning services in Microsoft Azure; the launch of “DevDays Asia” will bring the latest big data and IoT technologies into Taiwan. All the above progress has fully demonstrated that Microsoft is determined to invest in the IoT development of Taiwan and continues to lay a solid foundation for the IoT Industry Development Center. Together with its partners, Microsoft aims to assist the information technology industry in Taiwan to reach new heights in the IoT era.

“Last October, Microsoft signed an MoU with our Ministry [the Ministry of Economic Affairs] to set up an IoT Industry Development Center in Taiwan, aiming to collaborate with key partners in global and local ecosystems as well as to accelerate IoT solutions for industries. The project is in line with the Administrative Yuan’s Productivity 4.0 policy, which seeks to use smart technologies and applications to help our manufacturing, agriculture and service industries build technology development strategies and upgrade their industrial structure,” said Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Jong-Chin Shen. “Taiwan boasts a strong ICT industry. If we could work with Microsoft, who is a leader in cloud-computing and data analytics platforms as well as core IoT technologies, Taiwan’s ICT industry would be able to play a crucial role in the era of IoT. We hope that Microsoft, in the area of an open IoT platform, could expand its cooperation with Taiwanese hardware businesses (including OEMs, ODMs, embedded device manufacturers, systems integrators), ISVs, start-ups, and the academia. We also hope it can work further with our digital content, information and software players to develop innovative technologies and diverse, creative APPs for the IoT platform. All in all, these endeavors shall boost Taiwanese businesses’ collaboration in IoT hardware and software development. ”

“We are pleased to see that technologies related to IoT have flourished in Taiwan and received positive feedback and full support from the Taiwan government in establishing the ‘IoT Industry Development Center.’ As a consequence, the connection of front-end and back-end devices and technologies contribute to the growth of a complete solution of IoT,” Chris Phillips, GM, Partner Director of Program Management, Microsoft, said. “Data analytics is essential to the development of IoT solutions. Microsoft has reaffirmed its commitments to the development of data platform by inviting internationally renowned data scientists to Taiwan to assist the partners in the IoT ecosystem to gain insights in big data and be able to provide innovative services through the latest technologies.”

IoT Industry Development Center connects partners to improve Taiwan’s presence in the IoT world

As cloud applications grow with the maturing technologies, Taiwanese businesses are quickening their pace to the cloud. The birth of the IoT Industry Development Center is a tangible achievement of cooperation between the industries, the government and the academia. Initial results of IoT partners’ work and applications for various industries were also showcased at the DevDays Asia, where partners such as Aaeon, Advantech, Genesis, Inventec, KingwayTek, MiTac, NEXCOM, Plustek, Trend Micro, Tatung System Technologies, WiAdvance, and Yoctol Info were invited to display their solutions that cover all aspects of the IoT: smart vending machine management systems, a smart medical environment based on the WISE-PaaS IoT Software Platform, applications in Telematics, IoT gateways, and IoT security solutions—all are going to shape the face of the future IoT world.

In the IoT world, Microsoft Azure will enjoy unlimited applications and influence as it will be a crucial platform for its partners’ distant monitoring & management or big data analytics solutions. Moreover, with its functions such as big data analytics and machine learning, live traffic information, route optimization and traffic prediction will be made possible in Telematics; business will be able to manage big data using simple and visualized interfaces; a comprehensive security architecture that connects the cloud, networks and end points will be tailor-made for the IoT.

HAOkathon strikes sparks, stimulates innovation and makes good things happen

In the three-day program, experienced experts from Microsoft HQ specializing in cloud & data platform and productivity are invited to address topics related to Big Data Ingestion and Storage, Machine Learning and Data Analytics, Data Visualization, Practical Application, Office Add-Ins introduction and Development, Office 365 APIs Practical Application, Introduction to dev.office.com Resource and Platform Development, Office Web Apps Integration, Development of Office Add-in and Office 365 App and so on. Through workshops and live demonstrations, developers can exchange their most innovative ideas and put them into practice through the most advanced cloud-based development tools while reaching out to more users with their work. Another highlight of the event is HAOkathon (Hackathon + A for Analytical + O for Open, HAOkathon), which is a one and half day event that will allow the participants to have discussions and exchanges of ideas with the experts from Microsoft HQ. In addition, the participants can also implement their ideas with the latest technologies with the aim to promote social welfare and better utilization of technologies. Aligning with the theme of promoting social welfare, participants could choose from a wide variety of topics, such as Hack for Enhancing Productivity, Hack for the Environment and Marine Ecosystem, Hack for the Good, Hack for Government Open Data, Hack for University Education, etc. By better utilizing technologies, it would be possible to take good deeds to a whole new level. After the event, the work developed at HAOkathon will be released as open source for social welfare, fulfilling corporate social responsibilities and making good things happen at the same time.

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