台灣具備優異的資訊科技及文化創意競爭力

始終致力數位內容產業推動的工業局副局長沈榮津表示，台灣正從工業社會走進資訊社會，產業也面臨著從製造到服務、從硬體到軟體、從有形到無形、從在地到全球、從創新到創意、從產值到價值、從規模到深度的轉型。為了回應全球化知識經濟體系之巨大挑戰，台灣發展數位內容產業是非常重要的。

根據Pricewaterhouse Copers對全球娛樂與媒體市場所做的分析，預估至2011年時市場規模可達1.96兆美元；亞洲地區為全球第三大市場，也是成長最快速的區域，預估至2011年時市場產值將達4,704億美元。沈副局長認為，以台灣具備的能力，應該可以在全球數位內容市場上占一席之地。

沈副局長進一步指出，相較於亞洲各國積極推動發展數位內容產業，我國發展的優勢在於：台灣是個多元文化的開放社會，年輕人在這樣的環境中，可以恣意發揮創意；在音樂、遊戲、影視、漫畫等相關產業，已漸累積相當多的原創素材和製作能力，並為全球華文市場流行指標；同時，具備品質優秀之內容製作與技術人才，且同等級人才成本較歐美等先進國家低廉。

當然，資訊電子硬體產業的國際優勢，及網際網路與寬頻網路普及率為全球前10名，展現出我國資通訊產業實力雄厚，能提供數位內容用平台與載具，數位內容產業的發展，應該比亞洲其他國家來的有競爭力。

從台灣數位內容產業現況及全球產業發展前景來看，沈副局長分析台灣數位內容產業發展的機會，他認為包括：新興數位休閒娛樂帶動數位內容市場需求、Web2.0引領網路創新服務與應用、國產動畫影集播放的成長空間大、以群聚整合計畫共同開發具國際競爭力遊戲等。故沈副局長也指出，台灣數位內容產業未來的發展方向，應走向原創內容開發、跨業合作經營、多媒體娛樂加值應用、創新營運模式，並用政策加以引導。

政府積極塑造產業環境平台，奠定發展基礎

沈副局長指出，政府的角色在於塑造產業發展所需的環境平台及培養人才。因此，第1期「加強數位內容產業發展推動方案」推動重點工作，主要包含環境建置與法規、人才培訓及延攬、促進投資與金融輔助、研究發展及應用、產業資訊、行銷及推廣策進等六大構面。

執行以來，重要成就包括：產值從2001年1,334億元，成長至2007年達3,609億元，複合平均成長率約為21%。在業者持續投入在相關數位內容開發的資金方面，2003年至2007年累計總投資額達600億元，國際合作金額也累計超過100億元，其中內容軟體、數位遊戲、數位影音及網路服務等4領域合計占總投資比例達80%。在培育產業需求的人才方面，已累計培訓中長期養成人員5,327人次，短期在職班11,362人次，7成以上的學員進入數位內容相關公司就業。

掌握產業核心價值，推向國際市場

長期關心並觀察數位內容產業發展的沈副局長表示，數位內容產業的領域範圍廣，每個領域有其核心價值故作法也不同，他常與各領域廠商接觸，也發現很多需要突破的瓶頸與關鍵問題，以遊戲與動畫為例：
1. 都有開發能量不足的問題，國產遊戲每家公司每2年才能產出1款自有產品， 動畫每年約有15部雛形產品，但僅完成1-2部動畫片，產能不足，就不利外銷；
2. 與國際接軌能力不足，產品無法到國外播映；
3. 投融資環境不成熟：遊戲或動畫的雛形產品發展階段，缺乏階段性投融資政策支援，造成創投及異業不敢冒然投資。

針對廠商所面臨的問題，沈副局長說，在第2期「加強數位內容產業發展推動方案」中，工業局目前已著手對數位內容廠商所面臨的問題及需求，提出完整的短中長期的作法及相關措施，包含：技術/產品/服務研發補助(推動遊戲及動畫產品開發為重點項目)、產業推動(國際合作協助、國發金的投資、異業媒合)、產業推廣(舉辦國際展覽、系列競賽等)、培育中高階數位內容人才等工作。

沈副局長也指出，台灣要成功發展數位內容，有一個十分重要的關鍵要素，就是「資源整合」，成果要能有效重複運用，必須要結合各相關產業領域共同開發產品(圖書漫畫、電影、遊戲、動畫、玩具、觀光旅遊等)，才能建立優勢並獲利。

由於台灣都屬於中小企業，同業間缺乏整合能力，致產業規模一直無法拓展，較難爭取國際大型業務；工業局在推動數位內容產業時特別加強各領域間的合作(如動漫畫及周邊商品廠商合作、遊戲與動畫領域、動畫與行動領域等)，發揮群聚效應，經由集中資源方式(研發補助面、國際合作面及國發基金投資面等)，選出數位遊戲與電腦動畫為重點發展項目(因產業效益大，且能有帶動效果)，透過資源整合，以策略聯盟(如廠商合作等)共同對外爭取國際業務。

最後，沈副局長表示，對於台灣發展數位內容產業的未來樂觀期待，但也坦言，直至目前為止，還沒有一個真正有利可圖的營運模式，非常成功的案例能吸引各界的資金、人才競相投入。

為此，工業局將積極從研發補助面、資金面、法規面、國際行銷面等提供廠商良好之產業發展環境；並推動區域數位內容的發展，發掘台灣中南東部各區域的故事性素材與數位內容題材，發展出台灣主體的特色內容藉以引進更多的國內外產業投資；並協助業者促成海外市場之授權、合作開發及技術移轉等相關合作；及透過辦理競賽及培育人才等方式，發掘好的創作題材及人才，鼓勵優秀人才投入數位創作行列等重點工作加強推動，將台灣數位內容產業推向國際。

Taiwan has entered a second-phase development project (2007-2011) for development of the digital content industry in the areas of computer animation, digital games, digital video, mobile applications & services, e-learning, internet services, content software, digital publishing & archiving and other fields, proceeding with "mission oriented" guidance. It is expected that by 2011, total production value from digital content will reach NT$600 billion.

Taiwan is very competitive in ITand cultural creativity

Shen Jong-Chin, Deputy General Director of the Industrial Development Bureau—which is vigorously investing in promotion of the digital content industry— indicates that Taiwan is transforming from an industrial society into an information society, and the island’s industry is also moving from manufacturing to services, from hardware to software, from tangible to intangible, from local to global, from innovation to creativity, from production value to value and from scale to depth. In response to the huge challenges of the global knowledge-based economy, Taiwan’s development of the digital content industry is crucial. Based on analysis by Pricewaterhouse Coopers on the global entertainment and media market, the company forecasts that by 2011, the size of the market may reach US$1.96 trillion. The Asian region is the world’s thirdlargest market and also the region where growth is the fastest. It is forecast that by 2011, market production value will reach US$470.4 billion. Deputy General Director Shen believes that Taiwan should be capable of capturing a part of the global digital content market.

Deputy General Director Shen further points out that compared with the various nations of Asia that are vigorously promoting development of the digital content industry, Taiwan’s development advantage lies in its open society with a diverse culture. In such an environment, young people can, as they wish, fully express their creativity in music, games, videos, cartoons and other related pursuits. With time, Taiwan has built up the ability to create many original works and productions and is attuned to the fashion standards of the global Chineselanguage market. At the same time, the island has topnotch talent in content production and technology, and these people are cost competitive with talented people in Europe, the U.S. and other advanced nations. Of course, there is Taiwan’s international advantage in the information and electronics hardware industry, and the island's internet and broadband network penetration rate is among the world's top ten, demonstrating Taiwan's real strength in the data communications industry. Taiwan is capable of providing digital content applications, platforms and vehicles. In the development of the digital content industry, Taiwan should be competitive with other Asian nations.

Observing the current status of Taiwan's digital content industry and the outlook for global industry development, Deputy General Director Shen analyzes Taiwan's opportunity in development of the digital content industry and believes that with newly emerging digital leisure entertainment driving digital content market demand and Web2.0 leading innovative services and applications for the internet, there is a lot of room for growth of domestically made animated movies. As part of a group project aimed at development of games and other internationally competitive products, Deputy General Director Shen further points out that the direction of Taiwan’ digital content industry in the future should be toward original content development, cross-business cooperation and operation, value-added applications in multimedia entertainment and innovative operating models, all of which will be led by policy.

Government vigorously shapesindustry environment andplatforms, laying the foundation fordevelopment

Deputy General Director Shen points out that the government’s role lies in shaping the environment and platforms and in training talented people needed for industry development. For this reason, the main tasks of the first-phase Program to Enhance the Digital Content Industry included the six overall dimensions of creating an environment and laws, training and recruitment of talented people, promoting investment and financial assistance, as well as engaging in research, development and applications, providing industry information and developing marketing & expansion strategies.

After the project was carried out, its important accomplishments included an increase  in production value from NT$133.4 billion in 2001 to NT$360.9 billion in 2007 for aggregate average growth of about 21%. As businesses continued to invest in related digital content development, from 2003 to 2007, the total investment value reached NT$60 billion, and funding for international cooperation also exceeded NT$10 billion. The four fields of content software, digital games, digital video and internet services accounted for 80% of this investment value. For the training of talented people needed by the industry, in the mid- and longterm, a total of 5,327 people/sessions were conducted, and short term on-the-job training was conducted for a total of 11,362 people/sessions. More than 70% of the trainees found employment with digital content-related companies.

Controlling the industry's core value and entering the international market
For a long time, Deputy General Director Shen has cared about and observed the development of the digital content industry. He indicates that the scope of the digital content industry is quite broad, and each field has its core value. Therefore, the methods also are different. He frequently comes in contact with these different fields and companies and has discovered that many of the obstacles and key issues that need to be overcome for games and animation are as follows:
1. Development capacity is insufficient. For domestically made games, each company must spend two years to develop a product, and for animation, during one year there may be 15 prototype products, yet only 1-2 animated movies can be completed. The insufficiency in production capacity is not favorable for exports.
2. The ability to meet international standards is insuf f i c ient , and produc t s cannot meet the international pace.
 3. The investment and funding envi ronment i s immature. Games or animation prototype products in the development stage lack policy support for staged investment and funding, with the result that venture capital and other outside investors are unwilling to take on the risk.

Regarding the problems companies face, Deputy General Director Shen said that during the second phase of the Program to Enhance the Digital Content Industry, the Industrial Development Bureau has made an effort to address these problems and demands. The Bureau will provide short-, mid- and long-term methods and related measures including technology/product/service R&D assistance (with a key focus on promotion of game and animation product development),  industry promotion (international cooperation and assistance, investment by the International Cooperation and Development Fund, matchmaking with outside investors), industry expansion (sponsorship of international expositions, competitions and more), training of mid- and top-level digital content people and other efforts. 

Deputy General Director Shen also points out that if Taiwan is to succeed in the development of digital content, one extremely important factor is “resource integration”, achieving the effective reuse of creations. For this to happen, it is necessary to combine related industry fields in common development of products (graphics, cartoons, movies, games, animations, toys, tourism and more), before advantages can be gained and companies can make profits.

Because most of the businesses in Taiwan are small and medium enterprises, integration is difficult, and as a result, it has been impossible to expand to reach industry scale and win business from large international companies. In the promotion of the digital content industry, the Industrial Development Bureau has especially strengthened cooperation among different fields (such as cooperation between companies in animated cartoons and derivative products, games and animation, animation and mobility and other areas), to fully develop group synergy. Through the consolidation of resources (R&D assistance, international cooperation, International Cooperation and Development Fund investment and other means), digital games and computer animation have been selected as key development items (because of greater effectiveness, and their driving effect on other areas). Through resource integration and with strategic partnerships (such as inter-company cooperation and other means), it should be possible to jointly win international business.

Finally, Deputy General Director Shen indicated that he is optimistic about the future of Taiwan’s digital content industry development. Still, he also frankly says that he has yet to see a truly profitable operating model that can successfully attract outside funding and talented people. 

For this reason, the Industrial Development Bureau will proactively use R&D assistance, funding, laws, international marketing and other means to provide companies a favorable environment for industry development. The Bureau will also promote regional digital content development, discovering Taiwan's storytelling works and digital content material from  the central, southern and eastern regions of the island, developing themes with content that is characteristic of Taiwan, thereby attracting even more domestic and foreign industry investment. The Bureau will also help businesses promote licensing of rights in overseas markets, cooperative development, technology transfers, and other related alliances. By sponsoring competitions, training talented people and other methods, by discovering excellent creative works and talented people, by encouraging elite people to invest in digital creation and other key efforts to strengthen promotion, Taiwan will promote its digital content industry overseas.