In Taipei, though, an app uses the government’s real-time transport data to notify people when they are approaching their destination. It is just one of the many ways that government data has been used since the city started releasing data four years ago - making it the leader in the Asia Pacific.
Read more: TW: Top Taipei official talks Open Data, apps and the challenges still to overcome
A group of ICT experts, including those from the Institute for Information Industry (III), visited Oman to explore avenues for joint venture and other forms of cooperation. They held a "Taiwan Smart ICT to Go" workshop and a partnership or match-making event in the city recently.
Read more: Taiwan seeks to boost its Information and Communications Technology ties with Oman
“The Executive Yuan has approved the ministry’s plan to use biometric identification technology at border control points and we will start collecting biometric information from visiting foreigners as well as from Taiwanese with no household registration information this year,” Deputy Minister of the Interior Hsiao Chia-chi (蕭家淇) told a press conference.
“This will better maintain border security and the safety of the public,” he added.
The alliance, led by Chairman Peng Chi-ming, aims to communicate with the government to make more data available to the public and develop the nation’s knowledge economy. Besides developing industrial cooperation, the alliance, which is expected to grow, will collect opinion, learn and benchmark itself against international counterparts.
Read more: Taiwan forms alliance to push for open government data
The system provides a user-friendly interface which integrates spatial information crucial for the city’s Emergency Dispatch Centre to manage and mobilise rescue operations. This includes information derived from digital maps, building and block maps, aerial photographs and water resource maps among others.