Thank you, and thank you also to my fellow of panelists here.

Really, I can see that you can ignite a movement almost on this digital governance. Even I am so inspired and excited by some...I’m someone who is a political scientist who’s shunned technology as much as I can, but you have really made it so accessible and so exciting.

Thanks for waiting patiently. Right outside in the hallway, we collect it. Then sit outside or come back here. Also, thank you to IIIP for advertising the event and joining us. Finally, let me just say what a tremendous honor and privilege it was to have you, Minister Tang, to ...

I also want to say that the photo exhibit, which there are only eight of them right here, but we are working on setting up a larger, 40-plus set of photo exhibits in the future. Stay tuned. We’re still working on trying to get that, to have an exhibit here ...

We have actually come to the end of the program. I want to just make a couple of announcements. One, this is the last week of class. I want to thank those of you, who I know you’re very busy, those of you who came to hear the minister and ...

Any other queries? Yes, on the side, gentleman over there.

Thank you. Other questions from the audience? Yes, in the front. One second. There’s a mic right there.

Thank you. Could I just follow up and ask, to what extent that is being adopted by other countries? It seems like such a widespread problem, especially during elections. Especially in India right now, there’s a lot of disinformation going on.

Thank you. I’m going to ask Richard to read off one of the questions. I think the second one on disinformation looks particularly interesting.

Scott White has a question, and then...

The great beyond.

Thank you. Yes, gentleman in the back, and then we’ll take a question from the...

When you ask the question, please do identify yourself. Yes, this gentleman.

Yes.

Thank you so much. The floor, I will now open the floor to questions, as well as the virtual space here.

I have some students here. How do you, Minister Tang, how would you formulate the use of soft power in projecting Taiwan in the international and regional settings?

In the international arena, regionally in particular, especially when, as you lay out the difference between the PRC and Taiwan, there is that huge asymmetry of soft power, I think, in your favor. How does one, because I teach, you look at these things, and how important is soft power ...

If you don’t mind, I would actually like to take the first question. Although I know there are many questions out here, I can’t resist. It’s a straightforward question for you. That is, the fact that this kind of open governance, and your innovative system that you’ve introduced, provides, I ...

I think Minister Tang, you’ve opened an extraordinary conversation here that we have now a variety of ways in which to address it. I know there are many questions. I can’t see behind me, but what kind of questions we have coming up.

Thank you very much, Scott. I think I’m delighted that we have two commentators, who, one coming from a much more radical openness to a more tempered set of views that are necessary to raise, I think, at this forum.

Thanks, Susan, for that broader context and for touching on your research, at least. Now, to Scott White for further context, however, he wants to contextualize that.

All right, thank you.

He has consulted with a variety of law enforcement agencies across the globe, and he holds a PhD from the University of Bristol in the UK. With that, let me ask Susan to lead off.

Dr. White holds a Queen’s Commission and was an officer in the Canadian Forces Intelligence Command. He brings a security background to this discussion as well. After he did his PhD, he was an officer with the Canadian Security Intelligence Agency.

She holds a PhD from Johns Hopkins University. Following Dr. Aaronson, Dr. Scott White will give his remarks. He is an associate professor here at the George Washington, and also, he directs the new cybersecurity program and Cyber Academy, which is a very interesting, a new educational platform.

Susan is currently directing projects on digital trade and protectionism. Also, works on artificial intelligence, trade, and a new human rights approach to data. It dovetails very nicely with what the minister just laid out.

Their own views on some of this and their own findings, to round out the remarks. First, we will start with Dr. Susan Aaronson. She’s a research professor of international affairs at the Elliot School. She’s also a senior fellow at the Think Tank Center for International Governance Innovation in ...

Minister Tang, thank you so much for that really vivid talk. All I can say is that it’s too bad we can’t clone you and send you across the globe to start this kind of a movement. Following the minister’s talk, we have two of my colleagues from George Washington ...

Thank you so much.

Thank you very much, minister. If you could join us at the table for the next part.

Thank you. Thank you very much.

These are in the back, on these easels in the back. Some of them have photos of the minister as well, engaging in dialog between US and Taiwan on things that some of you may know about, the GCTF, and so forth, which has been at the forefront of fighting ...

With that, I would invite you to come up. Just one small thing I just also wanted to mention that I haven’t. If you look around the room, there are some very interesting photographs that TECRO has kindly brought with them.

I happened to read the job description online. It was a poem, which was, I think, very innovative, very inspirational, very intelligent, and kind of irreverent and fun. I have a feeling that those words probably describe the minister herself, personally and professionally.

Really want to do what the minister has called deliberative democracy, to start that kind of a movement on that. Finally, in 2016, when the minister was asked to be the first Digital Minister and join the government, apparently, she was asked to a write a job description.

Also showed, I think, a lot of personal courage, because at 15, left school with the blessings of the head teachers, and went on to start a company, many companies along the way. At the ripe old age of 33, I think, decided to retire from private sector and focus ...

Careful to say that. Let me just a few things about Minister Tang that I found particularly interesting. Minister Tang started her work with computers at a very early age. I think the first thing that she did was create an educational game for minister’s younger brother.

A vibrant community, with the call to “fork the government,” and I wanted to make sure I didn’t mispronounce that word.

Gov-Zero.

Also, actively still contributes to gov-zero...

Minister Tang serves on the Taiwan National Development Council’s Open Data Committee, the K through 12 curriculum committee, and she also led Taiwan’s first e-rulemaking project. Minister Tang works on a variety of consulting with Apple, works with Oxford University Press on crowd lexicography, and with social text on social ...

The first word that came to my mind was, "Wow." Here’s somebody who has that wow factor, if I may. Minister Tang is the first Digital Minister of Taiwan, and I would say one of Asia’s most innovative and exciting thought leaders and activists on governance and the use of ...

Good morning, everyone, or good afternoon. I’m really honored to be able to do the introduction for Minister Audrey Tang. When I was looking at her bio, there’s so many things that one could talk about.