Qualcomm Innovation Center in Kaohsiung. Credit: DIGITIMES
Qualcomm announced on September 21 that it will set up the Qualcomm Innovation Center in southern Taiwan at the Yawan 5G AIOT Innovation Park in Kaohsiung to support local industries and startups, and unveiled the Qualcomm Wireless Reach 5G innovative education initiative to bridge the digital divide bridge.
“As a global leader in wireless communications technology innovation, Qualcomm continues to advance technology that improves human life by collaborating with like-minded partners who share the same aspirations to advance economic prosperity and social advance,” said ST Liew, President and Vice President of Qualcomm Taiwan and Southeast Asia, said in the ceremony marking the opening of its new innovation center and the signing of a memorandum of understanding with the Kaohsiung Exhibition Center.
For the education initiative, Qualcomm is collaborating with Acer, Askey Computer Corp, Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS), XRSPACE, NewSoft and mixed reality content provider Mifly Design to provide resources such as notebooks, VR glasses, AR/VR editing tools and materials , and 5G Internet devices powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon mobile computing platform for several elementary and middle schools in southern Taiwan’s Tainan, Kaohsiung and Pingtung areas. Teachers will be able to develop teaching materials using VR technologies and enhance teaching by visualizing abstract concepts in an immersive context. Students can use VR devices in class, where low-latency private 5G networks are built on campus to enable smooth communication.
At the signing ceremony of Qualcomm’s Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Kaohsiung Exhibition Center to build private networks with Qualcomm’s 5G technologies across all band ranges, including sub-six and mmWave for the venue, the Mayor of Kaohsiung City, Chi stressed -mai Chen that Kaohsiung is making every effort to promote smart-tech industries to seize opportunities amid the restructuring of global supply chains.
“We aim for net-zero carbon transformation and digital transformation for Kaohsiung’s industries, and Qualcomm’s 5G AIoT technology is key for applications in decarbonization and digital transformation, as well as scenarios such as education and healthcare.” said Chen.
This isn’t Qualcomm’s first project in Kaohsiung. In December 2020, Qualcomm and Chunghwa Telecom (CHT) jointly built the world’s first private 5G mmWave advanced semiconductor engineering (ASE) smart factory at their Kaohsiung manufacturing base.
Qualcomm launched the Qualcomm Innovate in Taiwan Challenge (QITC) four years ago and has created 39 startups at its innovation center in Taipei. As some startup teams originate from the southern part of Taiwan, Qualcomm decided to set up the new Qualcomm Innovation Center, Southern Taiwan in Kaohsiung to meet the needs of these young innovators. “This type of work lab is calibrated, just like oxygen for starters, because they can come to work, test, use advanced technology equipment, and develop their products, use cases, and services,” said Sudeepto Roy, VP Engineering, Qualcomm Technology Licensing . Roy coaches QITC startups on how to build their IP by providing professional patent filing advice.
In the new innovation hub, Qualcomm partnered with Compal Electronics to provide AR/VR devices, private 5G mmWave and sub-6GHz networks to support startups developing their products or use cases with 5G AIoT, Build open RAN and robotics applications.
Qualcomm has announced the shortlist of 10 startups in its 2022 QITC competition and has given these startups intensive training to prepare them for the final competition. In addition to the equipment and devices startups need to test and build prototypes, Qualcomm also provides them with artificial intelligence (AI) computing power to build their algorithms.
The finalists will be announced in mid-November. While only the top three receive prize money each year, all shortlisted teams are already considered part of the Qualcomm ecosystem and will have long-term relationships with Qualcomm for future collaborations and business development, according to Yvie Tai, Qualcomm Business Development Manager and Program Manager.
Sudeepto Roy, Vice President of Qualcomm (left to right), Chi-mai Chen, Mayor of Kaohsiung, and ST Liew, Vice President of Qualcomm and President of Taiwan and Southeast Asia, at the MOU signing ceremony.
Photo: DIGITIMES Asia
