Event Description
Please join the Global Taiwan Institute as we host a unique panel, featuring one of the architects of President Tsai Ing-wen’s Asian Silicon Valley Development Initiative, David Weng, in conversation with Arthur Tu, a well-known internet entrepreneur and startup coach based in New York City, and Steve Lang, a US government official in the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs at the Department of State. Moderator and GTI Vice Chair Jennifer Hu will facilitate a discussion about the Asian Silicon Development Initiative, which aims to make Taiwan a hub for internet-based innovation and entrepreneurship in Asia, and is a major component of the Tsai Administration’s economic reform agenda. Examining the initiative from the perspective of both governments, as well the private sector, our panel will look at the policies and plans being put in place to execute this ambitious program, and what it will mean for Taiwan, for the region, and for the United States.
Doors will open at 11:30. A light lunch will be served, and the event will begin at 12:00. Kindly RSVP by November 28. Please direct questions or concerns to abell@globaltaiwan.org.
**Media: Please contact Anna Scott Bell at abell@globaltaiwan.org if you would like to bring additional crew members or equipment, so that we can be sure to accommodate you.
Panelists
David Weng is an adviser for President Tsai Ing-Wen’s Asian Silicon Valley Development Initiative and a Co-Founder of the Global Taiwan Institute. He serves as Managing Partner at InnoBridge Capital Management, and is an angel investor with a track record of bringing start-up companies to successful IPOs, mergers and acquisitions. Mr. Weng invests in about 80 early stage high technology companies. Prior to his investment projects, David served as Software Engineering Director at Cisco Systems and at Hewlett-Packard before that. Mr. Weng has over 20 years of experience in software engineering and internet technologies. He is President of the Silicon Valley Taiwan Angels Group, on the board of the San Jose State University Tower Foundation, and a Commissioner for the Overseas Compatriot Affairs Commission, Taiwan. David received his M.S. in Computer Science Engineering from San Jose State University in 1983.
Arthur Tu is an internet entrepreneur based in New York City, and serves on the Global Taiwan Institute’s Board of Directors. He was co-founder and CTO of LearnBop Inc, an educational technology company that provides automated tutoring systems for mathematics (acquired by K12 Inc. in 2014). Mr. Tu was also co-founder and architect at Elemental Path, the NYC-based tech startup that created AI-powered conversational smart toy line Cognitoys. He is a DreamIt NYC ’11 Alum, as well as a mentor at DreamIt, EDGE Ed Tech, NYU StartEd, NYC BigApps, Startup Weekend, Startup Weekend Edu, iMentor and TrepCamp. Mr. Tu was a former research associate in Intelligent Tutoring Systems at Carnegie Mellon’s Human-Computer Interaction Institute and LearnLab. Arthur holds a M.S in Logic and Computation and a B.S in Computer Science and Philosophy from Carnegie Mellon.
Steve Lang has served as deputy US Coordinator for International Communications and Information Policy and as Director of the International Communications and Information Policy Office of Bilateral and Regional Affairs in the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs since August 2015. Previously, Mr. Lang served as Deputy Director of the Office of Chinese and Mongolian Affairs at the Department of State (2011-2013) and as a Senior Analyst in the U.S. Trade Representative’s Office of Japan, Korea, and APEC Affairs (2010-2011). He has also worked in the U.S. Consulate-General in Guangzhou, China, the American Institute in Taiwan in Taipei, the State Department’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok, and the U.S. Interests Section in Havana, Cuba. Before joining the State Department, Mr. Lang worked as an economist for the Department of Labor.
Moderator
Jennifer Hu is the Vice Chair of the Global Taiwan Institute. Based in Washington, D.C., Jennifer is the Director of Legal and Regulatory Affairs of the Texas Central High-Speed Railway, LLC, focusing on regulatory and legislative issues related to high-speed rail, railroad safety, and transportation policy. Prior to joining the Texas project in 2010, Jennifer spent several years in Taiwan where she held public service positions including presidential aide at the Office of the President of Taiwan, and the Director-General of the Bureau of Civil Affairs at the Tainan City Government. She is a graduate of MIT, Georgetown University, and George Washington University Law School.