Commencement Speech to Graduates of Yuan Ze University

Victory awaits him who has everything in order—luck, people call it.

——Roald Amundsen

Yuan Ze University (YZU) is celebrating its 30th founding anniversary this year.  Reflecting upon the challenges and the tremendous efforts by the faculty since its establishment, the School had made significant progress from its first Electronic Engineering Department and extended to five colleges to become one of Taiwan’s most distinctive universities.  We have cultivated outstanding graduates to contribute their skillsets to the society across sectors, pushing Taiwan to march forward.  Nowadays, the world is changing expediently with more drastic challenges, such as artificial intelligence (AI), advanced nations including the U. S. have already fully engaged in the research and development of the application of AI.  In contrast, we are falling behind significantly.  If education could not be transformed accordingly, and cultivate talents for the “New Economy,” Taiwan will not be able to maintain its competitive edge in the global stage.  This is the topic that we all have to deal with diligently.

For example, in the U.S, American enterprises such as Sears and General Motors (GM), they were leaders in the department store and automobile industries.  GM served as the role model in business management.  As these century-old enterprises were not able to catch up with the latest trend and direction to transform, this has led to their demise under the tidal wave of the “New Economy.”  For the top U. S. enterprises, the focus is no longer on the traditional business management roles such as manufacturing, sales, marketing, and accounting, but how to adopt new technologies into supply chain management and business model, how to seize the major changes including increasing value on data analytics, developing application of AI and of robotics, the rising of platform economy and mass power.  These dynamics are worthy of reference for Taiwan’s enterprises.

During the process of transforming toward the “New Economy,” Taiwan’s enterprises are in urgent need for talents.  Thus, the University plays a key role during this process.  In order to march toward the next 30 years, Yuan Ze University will not only continue to dedicate its technological capabilities as its cornerstone, but also adapt to the application of the “New Economy” in order to plan holistically.  Next, based on its excellent academic foundation, YZU should also apply holistic learning from digital technologies to bi-lingual lectures to foster students’ global mobility.  Furthermore, Yuan Ze University plans to expand the scope of industry-academia cooperation to collaborate with Far Eastern Memorial Hospital to constitute a bio-medical park, to apply smart technologies on health care in order to build up digital health care supply chain.  Moreover, the completion of a world-class landmark project comprising international conference hall, art performance center, and memorial hall will enrich the School’s cultural and artistic connotation, and enable Yun Ze University to become an internationally renowned institution.

The process of learning is tough, but all the hard work will pay off.  After studying at Yuan Ze University, no matter in the engineering or business departments, you are competent with professional knowledge.  However, in the era of the “New Economy,” you must keep up with time, understand the changing trend, and learn more about advanced technologies including artificial intelligence, block chain, cloud computing, big data, mobile technologies, and IoT that drive changes and innovation, and pay close attention to the impact these technologies have brought to the world, so as to get ahead of time in this digital transformation.

Through generations, Yuan Ze University has been established for thirty years, I am always delighted to witness the enthusiasm thrived upon our graduates after entering the workforce.  As you are graduating this year, I sincerely hope that you may follow the spirit of Yuan Ze alumni, continue to learn and challenge yourself, do not give up when facing setbacks, and do not fear when confronting challenges.  Most importantly, always be well prepared to embrace the challenges brought by the “New Economy,” and create your own future.

Victory awaits him who has everything in order.  I am deeply convinced that all of you will be winners in this era of the “New Economy.”  The future of Taiwan depends on you!＃