Ma Ying-jeou, mayor of Taipei City, began by speaking on the importance of the notion to build and operate digital capacities. Having started the wireless program four years ago, beginning with a concentration on the Hsinyi district, more than NT$1 billion was invested to build and operate access points throughout the city, Ma said. Access points were installed in not only metropolis areas but also metro stations as well.

"The sheer number of digital access points Taipei city has makes Taipei a more competitive city," Ma said.

Computer-based teaching aides

More importantly, Ma said that education is not something that can be left behind. In a city with more than 300 schools, it is ideal to have computers in classrooms where teachers can teach students how to use the Internet, and can use computers as a teaching aid. As an example, Ma said that in Taipei, some calligraphy lessons are offered with the assistance of computer-based video programs that teach students how to make the different strokes of Chinese characters, combining traditional culture with high technology.

Another example of intelligent use of wireless technologies is La Suite, a business hotel in the city. Hotel guests are given cell phones for translation services while they are on the move. If a hotel guest were to take a taxi cab and did not know how to communicate with the taxi driver in Chinese, a receptionist at the hotel can be phoned and can act as an assistant to the guest in dealing with directions, making the mobile phone an information center for hotel guests wherever they are.

Trusting in the idea that wireless services, be it with the Internet, mobile phones or otherwise, creates jobs without segregating people to different class rankings, Ma compares digitization to building a freeway. "When a road is built, how to use it depends on the parties involved," Ma said.

Taipei and Taoyuan Counties

Another speaker was Chen Wei-ren, deputy head of Taipei County. For Chen, he started the WiMax program in Danshui because of the many tourists and students in the area who can benefit from mobility. With close to 3.7 million people living in Taipei County, Chen believes that wireless technologies can make the county more prosperous, and their potential is limitless.

For Taoyuan County, magistrate Eric Chu stated that various mobility projects are under way. Taoyuan is a heavily industrialized county -- in Taoyuan City alone there are over 10,000 factories. As a county with so many factories -- as well as households, schools and scenic parks -- Taoyuan County is attempting to get funding from the central government to set up more wireless hotspots at parks and other locations, Chu said. The county's desire to become a major tourist destination also requires the county government to take part in various wireless and digitization efforts, he added.

Tainan City

Hsu Tain-tsair serves as the head of Tainan city, an older city that is gradually becoming more internationalized. In Tainan City, 71% of families have Internet access, Hsu said.

According to the mayor, although the city itself is older, its inhabitants are open-minded and are open to new ideas. With the help of information technology, Tainan has caught up with other Taiwan metropolises in initiating digitization efforts, he said.

Having put efforts into changing the mass transportation sector, Tainan already has an eBus program, a project promoted by the central government involving the use of cell phones and GPS systems to make passengers more aware of the times and schedules of city buses. The program provides a positive incentive for residents to use mass transportation, Hsu said.

The city has meanwhile set up more VoIP systems to help save costs, as traditional landline and mobile phones incur more costs for companies and government offices, he said.

The mayor believes that a wireless community would give an old city like Tainan new opportunities, so that its residents can be more competitive on the market, Hsu added.

"Our goal is to create a barrier-free digital environment in Tainan," Hsu said.