Taiwan’s Asian Silicon Valley Development Agency Teams Up with America’s Draper University to Cultivate Talents
Taiwan’s Asian Silicon Valley Development Agency has teamed up with California-based Draper University, sending 15 young Taiwanese entrepreneurs to the private school to attend a three-month training program for enhancing entrepreneurial skills in September.
The team from Taiwan’s Asian Silicon Valley Development Agency, which was launched by the government in 2016 to connect Taiwan with global tech clusters, arranged for the 15 Taiwanese youth to attend Draper’s “Hero Training Program” in San Mateo, California.
“Based on the entrepreneurs’ positive experiences and positive feedback, the ministry had decided to proceed with further cooperation,” said Kung Ming-hsin, Vice Minister at the Ministry of Economic Affairs, which backs the Asian Silicon Valley project.
Draper University is focused on teaching entrepreneurship in Silicon Valley, the cradle of high technology in America. It was founded in 2012
It has dispensed with traditional styles of lecturing, and instead offers five-to-seven-week programs involving online courses for learning about Bitcoin and other kinds of latest technological trends. Besides the programs, the university also has a shared workspace called Hero City.
According to the school, Draper University has over 500 alumni from 50 countries and has launched over 280 startups that have raised US$51 million in investment funding.
The Asian Silicon Valley Development Agency team visited Draper University in May this year to understand more about the university’s system.
The team decided to have its first cooperative venture with the university in early August, with ten young Taiwanese entrepreneurs attending its intensive training sessions. The second batch of 15 went later in the month.
Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin said in a statement that cooperation with the university was set to continue.
Talent is an asset to develop and cherish
Deputy Minister Kung says Taiwan’s talents are an economic asset. Therefore one of the main missions of the Asian Silicon Valley Development Agency project is connecting talents to resources.
Some of the 15 selected candidates were not entrepreneurs. They were inexperienced people with a desire to learn more about entrepreneurship.
For example, there was an undergraduate student from National Taiwan University(Taiwan’s top university, located in the capital Taipei), who was selected to take part in the program.
David Su, another selected entrepreneur, is the founder of Rockids.Co.
According to a statement released by the Asian Silicon Valley Development Agency, Su has a rich educational background.
Therefore he wants to combine the latest technologies relating to education, such as combining 3D printing and virtual reality, to create courses for students in the near future.
Su is joining this program with hopes of learning more from Draper University and then sharing his own experiences with the next generation.
The Asian Silicon Valley Development Agency will sponsor candidates’ tuition fees.
〔Original :Meet Startup@TW〕https://meet.bnext.com.tw/intl/articles/view/43763