For the eighth consecutive year, the ECCT's Low Carbon Initiative (LCI) cooperated with the Tainan City Government and National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) to arrange the Low Carbon City Conference in Tainan. The event began with opening remarks by Tainan City Deputy Mayor Hsu Yue-dian and ECCT Chairman Giuseppe Izzo and featured presentations by Tainan City Government officials, representatives from NCKU and ECCT member companies: PwC, Bosch and Signify on the subjects of green energy, smart transportation in cities, the circular economy and smart health. 

Ahead of the conference, the ECCT renewed its MoU with NCKU and signed a new MoU with the Shalun Innovation Alliance (SIA) for academia and industrial collaboration. The ECCT first signed an MoU with NCKU in 2013. The renewed MoU will extend existing collaboration to develop a mutually beneficial partnership for business communication, joint research, expertise exchanges, student internships and employment for graduates, among other activities. Dr Su Huey-jen, President of NCKU and concurrently the Convener of SIA, gave an introduction to the SIA, which aims to work with universities, industry and government to initiate practical action plans to foster eco-innovation, improve smart AI solutions for sustainable infrastructure projects in Shalun and support regional development.

The conference featured three sessions. In the first session on the subject of “Green Energy Development in Tainan”, the following presentations were delivered:
Dr Chen Kai-ling, Director-General of Tainan’s Economic Development Bureau, spoke about Tainan’s strategy of boosting renewable technology innovation and developments.
Eliza Li, General Manager of PwC Sustainability spoke on the topic “Connecting Taiwan companies to the global market with low carbon transformation”.
Dr Su Fong-chin, Executive Vice President of NCKU, spoke on the topic “Potential collaboration on future green energy”.
Chen Fong-long, Chairman and President of Chailease Finance Co. spoke about the current development status and prospects of Taiwan’s solar industry

In the second session on the topic of “Smart transportation in cities of tomorrow”, the following presentations were delivered:
Dr Wang Ming-te, Director-General of Tainan’s Bureau of Transportation, spoke about Tainan’s low carbon transportation, including light rail and electrification.
Jan Hollman, Managing Director of Bosch Taiwan, spoke on the topic “Driving the way towards sustainability”.
Dr Wu Cheng-wen, Executive Vice President of NCKU, spoke on the topic “Smart mobility at Shalun and beyond”.
Kai Chiu, Vice President of Hotai Cyber, gave a presentation titled “Visions and challenges for Mobility-as-a-Service”.

In the third session on the subject of “Circular economy for sustainability” the following presentations were delivered:
Dr Hsieh Shih-chieh, Director-General of Tainan’s Environmental Protection Bureau spoke about transforming waste into energy.
Eric Yu, General Manager & Global Vice President, Signify Taiwan spoke about innovative circular projects from the world’s leading cities.
Dr Wang Hsiao-wen, Vice President for International Affairs at NCKU, spoke about circular practices for talent cultivation and a sustainable future.
Chang Ching-hwa, Principal Architect at Bio-Architecture Formosana, spoke about the circular village in Shalun.
Dr Shen Meng-ru, President of National Cheng Kung University Hospital, spoke about smart medicine.
Joshua Tzeng, President of BenQ Guru Corporation spoke about healthcare trends in the post-Covid-19 era.