Hsinchu County Magistrate Yang Wen-ke led a county government group to visit the Czech Republic on September 23 and 24. The delegation visited well-known companies including Wistron Corporation, Wistron’s SMS Infocomm subsidiary, and Darfon Electronics. They also visited the Czech Institute of Informatics, Robotics and Cybernetics (CIIRC) to learn from EU experiences in ESG, AI smart industry, and talent cultivation. They paid special attention paid to the 2025 net zero emissions goals, AI applications, and specific international collaboration results, in hopes that Czech experiences can bring new inspiration for Hsinchu County’s smart city planning and sustainable development.
Magistrate Yang stated that, with the activation of the International AI Smart Park, Hsinchu County is set to become the future hub of Taiwan’s AI industry. He expressed hopes that this visit to the Czech Republic will help the county government gain further insight into future industrial development trends, and assist Hsinchu County companies in promoting their ESG transformation, so they can bring more innovation opportunities for Hsinchu County’s sustainable development and help build the county as a smart city.
To realize the concept of sustainable ESG operations, Wistron’s factory in the Czech Republic actively promotes the Closed-Loop Recycling System circular economy application model. The system is aimed at reducing new consumption of resources, instead maximally recycling and reusing waste and materials generated/used in the production process. This includes electronic waste recycling, plastic and metal recycling, bioplastic applications, and energy and waste heat management.
An Economic Development Department representative mentioned that Wistron has not only made long-term efforts in creating friendly work environments for employees and supporting local community development, but has also demonstrated outstanding achievements in talent cultivation, employee benefits and care, organizational culture, employee satisfaction, and innovative management. The delegation paid a special visit to Wistron’s on-site kindergarten. This innovative employee benefits policy helps employees with young children achieve work-family balance, and is a good model for demonstrating how an enterprise can support its employees with family-friendly benefits. The on-site kindergarten approach also won Wistron the Best HR Project Award in 2023, and the honor of being listed among the World’s Top 500 Sustainable Companies in 2024 by Time magazine. This shows how Wistron is going all-out to realize their core ESG values.
SMS, a co-located subsidiary of Wistron, provides comprehensive solutions for all stages of the product life cycle, including electronic parts refurbishment, screen testing and refurbishment, quality rework and engineering change upgrade services, reverse logistics, vendor-managed inventory center operations, warehouse management, etc. In addition to Wistron Corporation, SMS’ customers include Amazon, Meta, and other well-known companies. SMS provides them with production-line diagnosis services and circular economy solutions. This helps reduce the impact of equipment replacement on the environment, and makes companies’ sustainable ESG operations are reality.
Darfon Electronics focuses on reducing battery waste, using battery repair and reprocessing to reduce resource waste and environmental impacts. Through their H5000 Hybrid Inverter smart solar energy management system, users can efficiently utilize solar energy while also storing excess for future use. The output power of 5,000 watts is enough to meet the everyday power needs of households and medium/small commercial centers.
The Czech Institute of Informatics, Robotics and Cybernetics (CIIRC) is committed to the development of AI smart technologies, particularly applications for smart transportation, energy management, and urban planning. The CIIRC shared information about machine learning, automation systems, and their current international talent cultivation and collaboration status with the delegation. The Institute’s operations are funded by EU funds, and investment from private enterprises and the government. They receive €20 million every year for use in research and teaching, which helps students and researchers participate in competitions and promote technological innovation and modern development. The CIIRC also showcased its future city planning, aimed at using advanced technologies to solve the challenges faced by modern cities.