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TAIPEI’S
wonder boy and founder of the world’s third-largest
computer maker says Asian countries can outlast the
United States, host of some computer companies being
overtaken by Acer Group, which Stan Shih founded three
decades ago.
“Taiwan
and other Asian countries are not going to fight
American companies; they can’t with limited resources.
They should look at the longer gain. We are looking at
who can last longer,” Shih, now considered a national
hero in Taiwan, told reporters.
Shih was
in Manila for two days beginning Thursday to promote an
Asian initiative to bridge the digital divide—the
inability of the poor to squeeze out resources provided
by information technology.
Shih,
who formed Acer when he was 31, believes
Asia can accomplish this via the continuing formation of Asia
Development Opportunity Centers (Adoc). Now 63 years
old, Shih proposed Adoc 2.0 in last year’s Apec Economic
Leaders’ Meeting in
Sydney,
Australia, “to create a joint public-private partnership
platform among member-economies.”
According to a briefing paper, Adoc 2.0 aims “to…put
more efforts to enhance the capability and benefits of
women, children and underprivileged groups.” The project
is scheduled to begin in 2009. Of the 27 Adocs, four are
in the Philippines.
“The US
is also experiencing a digital divide but because they
have unlimited resources, they can easily bridge that;
so unlike Asia,” Shih said, citing the experience of
Acer.
Last
week Acer overtook the Lenovo Group as the world’s
third-largest manufacturer of personal computers while
it became the world’s second-largest maker of computer
notebooks or laptops, with sales of 5.25 million units.
Dell
Inc. reportedly shipped only 4.64 million units of
laptops, while Hewlett-Packard Inc. reported 6.66
million.
“So we
can’t compete in production but in applications;
software. In terms of desktop, for example, Acer can’t
compete in desktop [manufacturing]; you have to fight
the local,” Shih added.
According to the recent Unctad Report on information and
technology, the Philippines has been posting slow growth
in the level of development of Internet use. From 3.5
million in 2002, the number of people with Internet
access in the country has grown 10 percent to 4 million
in 2003, 4.4 million in 2004, and 4.9 percent to 4.6
million in 2005. The report by the United Nations
Commission on Trade and Development didn’t provide data
on the
Philippines
for 2006, and the percentage change from 2005 to 2006.
Taiwan,
with over 22 million people, reported 13.2 million have
access to the Internet in 2005, or an 8.2-percent jump
from 12.21 million in 2004.
Since
2003, when the Chinese Taipei proposed the Adoc project,
Taiwan has contributed $8 million.
“After
the completion of the first phase [this year], Chinese
Taipei pledges to continue the funding and establishment
of more centers over the next three to four years,” a
briefing paper added.
“It will
take millions and millions of dollars and way past my
lifetime just to really bridge the digital divide. So
what we can do right now is continue to find the real,
right way to at least lessen the gap,” Shih told
reporters.
When
asked if the
Philippines’
One-China policy is a hindrance, Shih replied, “that is
politics.”
He added
that they are moving to build a Philippine-Taiwan IT
corridor, for which to strengthen the project and the
Adoc in the country.
“Information-technology companies in Asia continue to
have innovative ideas. To fight the
US
[in this realm], we must define a new approach,” Shih
added.
He noted
that the biggest challenge in digital divide “is not
only the cost of computers or connectivity but how to
make investment on IT more effective.”
Shih is
credited with groundbreaking strategies for building
Acer, which he left four years ago to focus on what he
calls his “sharing to society.”
He
explained: “Because I came from IT, I can talk to
[Microsoft founder Bill] Gates, and we can understand
each other and agree that we can work together to bridge
the digital divide. I try to do my effort in that,” Shih
said. |
