The Central News Agency (CNA) is to undertake a pilot project to build an "international video-streaming platform" targeting global audience, the Ministry of Culture announced on Sept. 21.
By leveraging the expertise and international experience of CNA's news service, CNA will be undertaking the preparatory work related to establishing the technical specifications, global news network deployment, programming production, and organizational planning, and operation of the digital programming platform.
The Ministry of Culture stated that in order to gain valuable insight on the expectations and ideas of various industries regarding the project, a number of experts and scholars were consulted.
The consensus, the Ministry noted, was to have a public institution or foundation be appointed to anchor the project, especially one with relevant operating experience, industry know-how, and international reach so as to sustain a long-term and steady development of the platform.
CNA has also expressed its inclination to pilot this project and taken initiative on drafting proposals.
CNA has the advantage of having media professionals and multilingual talents, in addition to its international network and reach. The plan proposed by CNA, meanwhile, also includes integration of other audiovisual media production systems, and recruiting audiovisual production specialists from private sector, the Ministry explained.
After careful evaluation, the Ministry has thereby chosen to give the managing reins to CNA to handle this pilot project.
The Ministry remarked that due to the virus that has ravaged the world this year, Taiwan's excellent pandemic prevention results and achievements have won praise from around the world and changed the global perception of Taiwan.
To further seize this opportune time by showcasing Taiwan and Taiwan's moving stories, the digital communication channel aims to increase the visibility of Taiwan on the world stage.
The "International audiovisual programming platform" project has been approved by the Executive Yuan with a total budget of roughly NT$ 38.77 million. The platform aims to introduce Taiwan, including its cultural society, freedom and democracy, industrial economy, public health and social welfare, beautiful ecological landscapes, tourism, and local cuisine to the international community through live streaming and audiovisual works.
To further enhance the profile of Taiwan, the Ministry has also initiated the "International digital communication development plan (發展國際數位傳播計畫)," which has been approved by the Executive Yuan, for continued maintenance of the international audiovisual digital platform, in addition to support its content production.