Asia's largest developer
event celebrates AI takeoff and omnipresent Chatbot
applications
TAIPEI, Taiwan, May 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Following Microsoft
Taiwan's data scientist training and certification program and the
annual Microsoft Build in Seattle
earlier in May, DevDays Asia 2017@Taipei is launched with much
fanfare. Directed by Taiwan's
Industrial Development Bureau, and co-hosted by the IPO Forum and
Microsoft, this year's event from May
23 to 25 offers a program of even greater richness and
diversity, bringing the participants highlights of the
revolutionary technologies introduced in Microsoft Build --
Microsoft's biggest developer event. In response to the boom of big
data, machine learning as well as other technologies and their
applications, Microsoft has announced several new tools such as the
new Azure IoT Edge for big data computing, built-in Presentation
Translator for Office 365 PowerPoint, and cross-platform supports
for chatbots. With commitment to the idea of openness and
cross-platform, Microsoft embraces developers and is active in
developing AI and realizing a cloud-based smart world for the
future. The event has invited 16 experts from Microsoft's
headquarters to have face-to-face exchanges with more than 600
participants on the newest technology development. Microsoft has
also organized an AI Service Application Contest, calling for
value-added services and innovative applications for AI+Chatbot and
AI+Office 365 and encouraging developers to build killer apps for
Taipei citizens.
Taiwanese talent on the world stage -- DevDays Asia aligning
with Taiwan's Asia Silicon Valley
plan
Microsoft has introduced several IoT-related industrial
cooperation and talent training programs in Taiwan since it signed an MOU with the
Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) in October 2015 to develop the IoT industry and set
up the Microsoft IoT Innovation Center in October 2016. Earlier this month, it announced to
co-launch with the Institute for Information Industry (III) its
first training and certification program for data scientists in the
greater China region. Offering AI
services, cloud platform services, data analytics and many other
technologies, Microsoft has been supportive of Taiwan's effort to move from a hardware-based
or component-based business model toward five innovation-based
industries: defense & aeronautics, smart machinery, green
technology, bio-medicine, and IoT (i.e. making Taiwan the Asia Silicon Valley). This is
in line with Microsoft's continuous
work in providing Taiwanese industrial partners with access to the
company's newest developers tools and systems, and in facilitating
cross-platform interoperability, open specifications, and open
programs.
"Taking Taiwan as the hub of Asia, Microsoft has showcased more than 30
solutions in the IoT Solution Exhibition Center after it
co-established the Microsoft IoT Innovation Center with the MOEA.
More than 255 Taiwanese cloud devices are Microsoft Azure Certified
for IoT, accounting for 52% of the certified devices in the world.
Looking ahead, Microsoft will continue to help our partners tap
into the IoT value chain's unlimited business opportunities," said
Steven Shaw, General Manager of
Microsoft Taiwan. "In addition to sharing the newest technologies
and first-hand information with Taiwan, Microsoft will devote resources to
local partners, working together to train skillful AI and data
science professionals, who are key to future industry development.
We hope that DevDays Asia could provide our partner developers in
Taiwan with new tools and
services, serve as a stage where they can connect to world markets,
and realize the vision of a more intelligent future."
The Taiwanese government's plan to build an Asia Silicon Valley
aims to increase the global share of Taiwan's IoT business from 3.8% in 2015 to
4.2% by 2020 and to 5% by 2025. In this context, MOEA Deputy
Minister Jong-Chin Shen said,
"Microsoft has long been working closely with our industries.
Recently it has been cooperating with us on industry development
and skill training, under the framework of the 5+2 Industry
Innovation Policy. We hope that Microsoft could make Taiwan its innovation center and base in
Asia in areas beyond the IoT, and
that it could deepen its cooperation with Taiwanese industries in
developing Asia and even
international markets by continuously putting in, among other
things, AI and information security related technologies and
resources."
Highlights from Microsoft Build 2017 reproduced at DevDays
Asia
Directed by Taiwan's Industrial
Development Bureau, and co-hosted by the IPO Forum and Microsoft,
this year's DevDays Asia brings you hot topics and the newest
development and technologies from Microsoft Build -- Microsoft's
biggest developer event every year in Seattle. With an aim to connect Asia with the Silicon Valley and promote
strategies for related industries in Taiwan and Asia, the three-day event is built around four
themes, AI and Data, Office Extensibility, Interoperability, and
Tutorial, covering various areas:
- AI and Data: Microsoft has announced to offer developers
29 APIs in its Cognitive Services, including facial, emotion and
image recognition, text to speech, speech recognition, Language
Understanding Intelligence Service (LUIS), and more. For example,
the new Presentation Translator in PowerPoint can translate a slide
deck into various languages in real-time during a presentation.
Microsoft Bot Framework now supports Adaptive Card, which allows
developers to deploy their finished codes to multiple applications
and platforms. Meanwhile, as demand for IoT and big data analytics
applications keeps growing, Microsoft has introduced the new Azure
IoT Edge with the capability to span cloud and IoT edge devices
that make it easy to securely distribute cloud intelligence locally
and help industries to integrate cloud resources.
- Office Extensibility: New functions are now available on
Microsoft Teams, such as third-party notifications in the activity
feed, new plug-ins, and actionable messages. Microsoft has also
announced several new Microsoft Graph APIs including SharePoint and
Planner. Microsoft Graph facilitates connections, dialogues,
meeting scheduling, and work stream and content handling. It
supports developers in building smarter applications by introducing
a smarter work model.
- Interoperability: Speeches cover Microsoft Commitment to
Interoperability, Exchange Protocol Overview, Office Online (WOPI),
Office Protocol Test Tools, Windows Interop test tools, SQL Server
Protocol Overview, and the latest SQL Server Interop test
tools.
- Tutorials: There are sessions on SQL Server R Services
for Data Science Professionals, OData / REST / Graph Tutorial, as
well as an Office Add-in Workshop.
"In a world witnessing almost infinite computing power and
exponential data growth, Microsoft is walking ahead of the times
and envisioning a whole new world in near future. We focus on
providing AI and cloud services to every developer, connecting data
and cloud computing power all around the world, and building IoT
Edge and AI services for the future. Embracing openness, Microsoft
continuously supports developers by introducing more cross-platform
services that give developer full support across mobile, webpages,
and cloud. Without limitations, they could realize all kinds of
applications and achieve more," said Cathy
Yeh, Principal Program Manager of Microsoft Internet of
Things Innovation Center, Cloud and Enterprise Engineering Group,
Microsoft.
"With more than 100 million monthly commercial active users,
Office 365 is where the world works. Microsoft has announced plans
to better connect developers with Office 365 customers around the
globe: any developer can now
publish for Microsoft Teams, the new chat-based workspace in Office
365. Coming soon, apps in Teams will be more discoverable for end
users through a new app experience. Developers can also add new
capabilities to Teams apps, including third-party notifications in
the activity feed, Compose Extensions and Actionable Messages,"
said Tristan Davis, Group Program
Manager of the Office Platform team, Microsoft. "Microsoft Bot
Framework is now used by over 130,000 developers. Microsoft Bot
Framework is open to developers using any kind of programming
languages to develop Chatbots that can interact with humans with
natural languages and support various application platforms such as
Office 365, Skype, Slack and regular web applications. AI and
Chatbot applications will be everywhere in the future that are to
provide smarter and faster services to create value for every
industry."
More than 600 contestants and a chance to shine at the
developer skill challenge
This year in the three-day program, DevDays Asia has invited
technology experts from Microsoft headquarters to have exchanges
with more than 600 developers, focusing on AI services, data
analytics and Office 365 applications. Another highlight of the
event is the final round of the AI Service Application Contest,
where developers build value-added services for AI+Chatbot or AI+
Office 365. Powered by Microsoft Bot Framework + Language
Understanding Intelligent Service (LUIS), they could build a
cross-platform chatbot in a short period of time. This is expected
to stimulate new ideas and energy. Developers also have the
opportunity to see their creation become a part of Taipei citizen's life as applications using
data from Hello Taipei, the city government's reporting and
complaints service, may find their way into the service.
DevDays Asia 2017 was held from May 23 to
25 on the second floor of Hua Nan Commercial Bank's
convention center. To learn more about the event, please visit
https://www.microsoft.com/taiwan/events/2017DevDays/English/agenda.htm#middle_menu
About Microsoft
Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT" @microsoft) is the leading platform and
productivity company for the mobile-first, cloud-first world, and
its mission is to empower every person and every organization on
the planet to achieve more.
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SOURCE Microsoft Taiwan