For the first time in its trade event history, COMPUTEX held its all-virtual exhibition in a bid to solidify further its clout in global technology stage despite the lingering threats of the COVID-19 pandemic. The month-long virtual event, which is a deviation from its tradition of holding the events on-site in Taipei, will make use of artificial intelligent (AI) platforms for its live demonstrations and exhibitions. 

Co-organized by the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) and Taipei Computer Association (TCA), COMPUTEX 2021 embraced the latest tech trends and applications encompassing the main themes AI, internet of things (IoT), fifth-generation (5G) standard, edge computing, high-performance computing (HPC), gaming, as well as innovations and startup. 

Push Technologies Forward

In his opening speech, which marked the kickoff of this year’s event, James Huang, TAITRA Chairman, said the 2021 edition of the annual ICT and IoT event highlights Taiwan’s continuing resolve to pursue disruptive innovation and create an industry supply chain, with digital economy now valued at US$11.5 trillion or about 16 percent of the world’s total gross domestic product. 

He noted, however, the world’s biggest challenge at present is the pandemic and said, “It has been one year into the pandemic, and we continue to push forward with innovation and navigate in the new normal. As Taiwan stands at the center of the global technology ecosystem, we will never cease to build, connect, integrate, innovate, and push forward with the latest technologies.” 

Aside from the main themes, COMPUTEX 2021 will have four feature highlights namely Tech Insights, Virtual Displays, Matchmaking and Networking, and Hyper-Personalized Recommendations. The virtual event was expected to feature 147 virtual exhibitors from 33 countries and regions as well as 79 startups from 24 countries during its month-long staging. Key COMPUTEX participants include Acer, AMD, Apacer, ARM, ASRock, Asus, GIGABYTE, IBM, Intel, NVIDIA, NXP, Qualcomm, Siemens, among others. 

At the onset of the pandemic, COMPUTEX decided to reschedule its 2020 edition and instead held online forums and sourcing meetings. The last COMPUTEX Taipei held in June 2019 hosted 1,685 exhibitors from 30 countries and attracted 42,495 visitors from 171 countries.