Taiwan's ICT companies are jumping onto the cloud-computing bandwagon that is being championed by Microsoft, a development that promises to change the landscape of the global technology market forever.

The Tain governemtn is taking the lead in Taiwan's move to cloud computing. In November, economics minister Shi Yen-shiang and Steve Balmer, CEO of Microsoft, signed a memorandum of understanding for cooperation that calls for the establishmet of a “software and service excellence center” in Taiwan by the end of the year, with Taiwan bearing 60% of its cost.

The aim of this joint venture, the minister said, is to develop systems and services related to cloud computing and put Taiwan in the forefront of cloud-computing technology in Asia, and even the world.

Both hardware and software firms in Taiwan will participate in the development of related technologies at the proposed center, which will operate in parallel with the “cloud –computing mobile applications technology center” , set up recently by the dovernment-backed Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI).

Local ICT firms are responding enthusiastically to the government's urging to join the cloud-computing business. The most aggressive appears to be Quanta Computer, the world's leading maker of notebook PCs.

Quanta Chairman Barry Lin reports that the comapn's future R&D efforts will focus on the “new eCs - - cloud computing, communications, and client services. Lin says that his compay will start turning out a variety of cloud-computing related IT products in the second half of 2010.

Taiwan's ICT companies in general are keeping a close eye out for business opportunities connected with the trend toward cloud computing in the global tech market. Cloud computing features centralized data storage and computing operators, thus greatly simplifying the functions of consumer-ed ICT proucts and will generate huges business opportunities in the fields of hardware, software, and services. Taiwan's niche lies in hardware, including servers and computing-oriented consumer-ed ICT products.