COMPUTEX 2017, the leading global ICT show with a complete supply chain, and IoT and startup ecosystems, kicked-off the first day of its three-day CPX Conference, “From Mobility to Intelligence,” with keynote presentations focusing on future technology trends. Information and communications technology (ICT) industry heavyweights creating and implementing strategies for leading technology companies, ARM, Dell, Foxconn (Hon Hai Technology Group), Intel and Qualcomm, presented how their companies are adapting to current trends and unlocking future opportunities.

Lu Fang-ming, corporate executive vice president of Foxconn (Hon Hai Technology Group), and chairman of Asia Pacific Telecom Group, said Foxconn was heavily investing in some of today’s most important advanced manufacturing technologies, such as predictive analytics, smart connected IoT products, and smart factories. “As we migrate from a components company to a high-tech company, we want to go beyond physical manufacturing to integrate the cyber and the physical to address next-generation requirements,” said Lu Fang-ming.

Lu stressed the world is moving toward more connected people and devices, with seven billion connected people and 30 billion connected devices predicted by 2020. However, the focus should be not only on more connectivity, but also on more precision. Foxconn (Hon Hai Technology Group) is embracing next-generation 8K + 5G technologies as the new convention for smart-factory imaging. Lu said this would create endless opportunities for predictive analytics and non-stop recording in ultra-high resolution, also applicable to other disciplines such as surgery and security.

The path to 5G

Forum attendees also received a masterclass in the possibilities and pervasive impact of 5G from Qualcomm. Jim Cathey, regional president of Asia-Pacific and India and vice president of Qualcomm Technologies, said, “We’re talking about untethered gaming and VR. 5G could be so pervasive across so many industries that it is almost as important as electricity. The economic value of 5G-related goods and services will exceed US$12 trillion in 2035, and 5G will enable products and services that have not been invented. The high reliability, low latency, lower cost per bit and high availability of 5G will empower more immersive experiences, making VR and AR available to everyone.”

Security risks in the hyper-connected world

Echoing a common concern for security underlying technology trends, Rene Haas, president of ARM’s Intellectual Property Group, said computer vision, capturing images and instantly making intelligent decisions based on them, is one of the areas his team is most excited about. Haas cited an example of intelligent security cameras equipped with real-time learning capabilities, that could take images at select times and analyze massive volumes of security footage which is currently left unutilized. “We are heading toward a significantly system-based world, and these learning-based systems with a high level of complexity would require a high level of security,” Haas said.

Is the edge eating the cloud?

Andy Rhodes, global vice president of the IoT Solutions Group at Dell, began his presentation tracing the factors behind the hype over IoT in the past few years, including the accessible price point of silicon, an ubiquitous wireless environment, the cloud and the notion of data scientists. “But the cloud has its limits,” he said.

“The cloud will sustain. There will always be cloud computing, but the edge will start to expand. People will need to decide which type of analytics to process in the cloud or at the edge, depending on their use case, their things and their network setup, among others. And they will need to understand how to push their analytics down from the cloud to the edge,” Rhodes explained.

Rhodes noted the edge is the place where data is created or very close to where it is created, citing examples such as drones and robots. It has a vastly different operating environment from data centers, while also having radically different proprietary protocols to capture and transport data. “As people strive for innovation, the latency issue of driving data to the cloud to get processed and then sent back would never be realistic,” Rhodes continued.

Robert B. Crooke, senior vice president and general manager of the Non-Volatile Memory Solutions Group at Intel, spoke about how Intel is redesigning data centers to become more agile and efficient. “Our next-gen scalable data center technology will fundamentally change the way data centers are built, managed and expanded,” Crooke concluded.

Following the keynotes on future technology trends, the CPX Conference at COMPUTEX continues with forums on artificial intelligence, IoT+ and innovations and startups.

Live streaming and video archives of the CPX Conference, “From Mobility to Intelligence,” are available at: https://www.youtube.com/user/COMPUTEXtv.

About COMPUTEX TAIPEI (also called COMPUTEX):

Established in 1981, COMPUTEX TAIPEI is the leading global ICT and IoT show with a complete supply chain and ecosystems. Co-organized by the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) and Taipei Computer Association (TCA), COMPUTEX, based upon Taiwan’s complete ICT clusters, covers the whole spectrum of ICT industry, from established brands to startups and from ICT supply chain to IoT ecosystems. With strong R&D and manufacturing capabilities and IPR protection, Taiwan is a strategic destination for foreign companies and investors looking for partners in global technology ecosystems. Follow COMPUTEX on its website at www.computextaipei.com.tw and on Twitter @computex_taipei using the hashtag #COMPUTEX.

About TAITRA:

Founded in 1970 to help promote foreign trade, the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) is the foremost non-profit trade promotion organization in Taiwan. Jointly sponsored by the government, industry associations, and several commercial organizations, TAITRA assists Taiwan businesses and manufacturers with reinforcing their international competitiveness and in coping with the challenges they face in foreign markets.

TAITRA boasts a well-coordinated trade promotion and information network of over 1,200 trained specialists stationed throughout its Taipei headquarters, four local branch offices in Hsinchu, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung, and 60 overseas branch offices worldwide. Together with its sister organizations, Taiwan Trade Center (TTC) and Taipei World Trade Center (TWTC), TAITRA has created a wealth of trade opportunities through effective promotion strategies.

In addition to organizing trade delegations and providing customized procurement services, TAITRA also hosts more than 35 international trade shows annually in Taipei and in Kaohsiung. In 2016, 11,128 exhibitors and 83,807 international visitors took part in these events.