As the final event to wrap up the company's 40th anniversary celebration, Acer invited gov-ernment and industry leaders to discuss and share their thoughts about the future of global technology. Stan Shih, Acer’s Co-founder and Honorary Chairman took to the stage to deliver a keynote speech where he called on governments and businesses to create policies to help foster an environment for new thinking. Keynote speeches were also presented by industry leaders from Microsoft and TSMC.

"It's an honor to have been able to play a part in the democratization of the personal comput-er and help make the benefits of technology accessible to the many," said Stan Shih, Acer’s Co-founder and Honorary Chairman. “Today Acer looks back on 40 years of breaking barriers between people and technology, but more importantly we are also looking ahead into the fu-ture to a new Si-vilization that will be defined by life-changing technologies and smart cities, all driven by market needs.”

With the first 40 years of Acer’s timeline defined primarily by its growth in hardware, Shih’s keynote speech shed light onto how a new wave of “Si-nnovation” will occur and will be driv-en by the integration of hardware, software and services, leading to the development of more people-centric technologies. He said this progress presents Asia an amazing opportunity to capture new market prospects that relate to smart cities. The silicon-based technology that fueled the growth in personal computing paved the way for Silicon Valley in California to lead the world in creating new business models. With its sizable market and proven ICT capa-bilities, Asia is in great position to do the same and help foster a new “Si-vilization.

Taiwan’s Minister of National Development Council, Tain-Jy Chen, also voiced the govern-ment’s support and commitment, “We aim to continue our efforts in supporting Taiwan’s manufacturing and R&D to bring even more progress to the world’s technology industry.”

In addition, Acer’s President of BYOC Smart Products business, Maverick Shih, and other pan-el members tackled related topics during two panel discussions, one titled “Internet of Be-ings” and another titled “Innovations”. Summaries of the panel discussions and keynote speeches will be published here following the conclusion of the forum.

The day-long event also included Acer’s Tech Showcase which gave attendees a look at what an early phase of the New Si-vilization could be by exhibiting a full suite of the company’s latest BYOC products in the segments of smart transportation and smart cities, smart retail and integrated enterprise communications, programming kits, life and wellness solutions, among other applications of new people-centric technologies and solutions.

The forum was hosted jointly by Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs, National Development Council and Acer Inc. This event is part of a series of activities Acer has involved itself in this year to celebrate its 40th anniversary.