Taiwan’s Advantech sets up Asean shared service centre in Penang
Taiwan-based Advantech Co Ltd, a global industrial Internet of Things (IoT) company, has officially established the Asean shared service centre (ASSC) in Penang to bolster its customer support services in the Asia-Pacific region.
In a joint statement with Invest Penang, the company said it initiated ASSC’s first project with the signing of a letter of intent with Piacom, a systems integrator affiliated with the Vietnamese petroleum group, Petrolimex.
“Additionally, Advantech has launched the University Co-Creation (UCC) Worldwide Expansion Plan, aimed at creating a complete talent development ecosystem,” it said.
This initiative would span industry-academia collaboration, localised services, and the ultimate execution of strategic goals, particularly focusing on industry cultivation and localisation in areas where the IoT industry is booming and there is a demand for skilled professionals.
Advantech managing director of Asia and Intercontinental Region Vincent Chang said the company’s goal is to support industrial users in project implementation and in-depth development while also reinforcing regional core competencies and localised services.
“Penang, renowned as the ‘Silicon Valley of the East’ and rich in multicultural talent, was strategically selected to cultivate its domain solution integration team, dedicated to serving and supporting regional users and project implementation.
“Concurrently, the company has signed industry-academia collaboration agreements with numerous universities, building a complete talent development ecosystem from the campus and service centre to industry implementation,” he said.
Chang said the ASSC’s establishment not only symbolises the company’s expansion into the Asia-Pacific market but also underscores its commitment to local talent cultivation, industry-academia collaboration, and engineering integration.
He said this move would strengthen collaboration on solution development with co-creation partners while a complete industry ecosystem could be duplicated and established in other Asia-Pacific regions.
According to him, Advantech’s UCC Worldwide Expansion Plan also aims to establish 12 Artificial Intelligence of Things laboratories in cooperation with colleges and universities worldwide within two years.