Santiago Gutierrez, the former chairman of WITSA, once told Yvonne Chiu: “You are the one!” “One for what?” she thought to herself. But is it really any wonder he would regard her as a good fit to succeed him? Look at her career history: In the 1990s she moved to the United States and was a successful businesswoman there. Then she returned home to Taiwan and threw herself into the field of digital education. She grasped how there was a great digital divide between the cities and countryside, and was determined to allow children to develop computer expertise so they could compete globally. Ten years later, Chiu was elected chairwoman of WITSA, which is also committed to reducing international digital divides. “It is remarkable that one can draw such a clear line from my past to my present,” notes Chiu. “Perhaps it’s God’s arrangement, and Heaven was cultivating me to take this path.”

Chiu in front of the UN’s European headquarters in Geneva.

A Hakka girl in the US

Born to a traditional Hakka family that struggled financially, she had two older and three younger brothers. At the beginning of each school year, her parents always had to find people who would lend them money to pay the children’s school fees.

At Tam­sui’s Oxford College (now Aletheia University), she studied business administration, but she was never content just to get a comfortable office job. When she was little, a neighbor of hers who operated a clinic would always bring back sweet, rich chocolate when returning from foreign travels, she recalls. It spurred fascination with America in the young Chiu. “Back then we had heard that the sun was rounder in America and that it never set,” she laughs.

To realize her own American dream, Chiu opened a trading firm in Taiwan upon graduation. Aiming to make her mark, she then bought a plane ticket and went to America in just her early 20s.

Ending up in Seattle, Chiu started a one-person firm. It wasn’t easy. “So that people wouldn’t suspect that the company was actually just one person, when I had to sign a contract I’d show up in formal clothing, but when I was delivering goods, I’d tie up my hair, put on blue jeans and a cap, and tell people that we were twins.” It was truly a case of “one person doing two people’s jobs.” For the next step in her career, Chiu moved from gift items to furniture and from Seattle to Texas. She found some success there and realized her childhood dreams.

Chiu (second left) was a discussion panelist at the ASOCIO ICT Summit in Myanmar in 2016.

Bridging divides, promoting digital security

In the early 1990s, then in her early 40s and steering toward what she thought would be semi-retirement, Chiu moved from the US back to Taiwan, throwing herself into public interest work.

She soon saw that many small and medium-sized companies didn’t understand computers, even though computers and the Internet were becoming indispensable tools. Consequently, she set out to promote IT education. Noting that Microsoft was promoting accreditation for expertise in its Office suite, she established Elite IT, which became the general agent for “Microsoft Office Specialist” accreditation in Taiwan.

Chiu even dipped into her own pocket, leading teams ­every year for more than a decade to the Microsoft Office Specialist World Championship. She printed name cards for the kids on each team and taught them international manners and some basic English, allowing them to use the competitions as an opportunity to make foreign friends. For herself, meanwhile, the champion­ships were a chance to network: “Winning prizes was one thing, but networking with people from around the world—that was truly unbelievable!”

Her kids performed outstandingly, winning nine championship trophies over seven years. They also thrust Taiwan into the international arena, spotlighting its skills in IT. 

But Chiu’s career growth didn’t end there. She also became a pioneer in Taiwan for promoting information security and personal data security. Chiu established the Taiwan Privacy Consultant Association and lobbied for passage of the Personal Information Protection Act. She became an important mover and shaker in the movement to promote data security in Taiwan. When Tsai Ing-wen was running for president, it was Chiu’s suggestion that Tsai adopt the slogan: “Information power is national power; information security is national security.”

In 2016, Chiu was elected WITSA’s chairwoman by the organization’s general membership.

Bringing the WCIT to Taiwan

In fact, Chiu originally had no background in computers and IT. Yet she threw herself into the realm of Internet and communication technology when she returned to Taiwan in the 1990s, becoming a leader in IT education and security. Apart from taking advantage of luck and opportunities, Chiu’s personal diligence also played an important role. Chiu is never afraid to ask questions of her subordinates, happy to make anyone her teacher. It is one way she gains knowledge and skills. “I’m really, really hardworking. I don’t think I’ve ever seen another woman so diligent!” At this remark, Chiu herself breaks into a smile, acknowledging her own confidence.

And over the past few years, this serious and hardworking woman has garnered other impressive achievements. In 2014, she was selected as chairwoman of the Information Service Industry Association of the ROC. And in the same year, she represented Taiwan at the WITSA conference in Mexico and fought for Taiwan’s right to host the conference.

Traditionally, the WCIT has met biennially, and the board of directors had originally resolved that Taiwan would host the event in 2024 at the earliest. But because the Taiwanese government had already allocated funding, Chiu strongly pushed for Taiwan’s right to host sooner. “Technology improves daily, not yearly,” she told the conference in Mexico. “We’ve got to make the WCIT an annual event.” The comment brought an ovation. She then went on to affirm Taiwan’s commitment to supporting the event. Her efforts did the trick: Taiwan won the right to host the WCIT in 2017.

Santiago Gutierrez, then chairman of WITSA, came to Taiwan in 2015, hoping to meet figures from both the ­ruling and opposition parties. On a friend of Chiu’s referral, they met with Joseph Wu, who was then secretary-general of the Democratic Progressive Party and its representative to the United States. During the discussions, Gutierrez suggested Chiu might consider running for election as chairperson of WITSA. Holding no ambitions in that regard, Chiu was taken aback. But Wu immediately endorsed the idea. “Of course, I believe that her running for the post would be a nice bit of ‘technological diplomacy’ for us!”

Chiu would duly run and win the election to serve as chair of WITSA in 2016. She became not only WITSA’s first chairperson from Taiwan but also its first chairwoman.

The World Congress on Information Technology was held in Taiwan in 2017, 17 years after the nation first hosted the event. Here WITSA chairwoman Chiu and Minister of Economic Affairs Shen Jong-chin take to the streets to partake in the “Festival of Technology.”

Tech diplomacy

Chiu, who is up for reelection this year, remains full of innovative ideas: “Like the G20, I’d like to form an I20 [comprising nations strong in information and computer technology], which would help the IT industries in developing nations and help to bridge digital divides,” says Chiu, brimming with confidence. “Six or seven nations have already agreed in principle, and even the United States is willing to discuss the idea.”

Beyond bridging international digital divides, Chiu is working even harder at “tech diplomacy,” striving to establish connections between Taiwan and the world that can help Taiwan industry in difficult times. She recalls an experience at the United Nations: She was invited there as the WITSA chairman, but when she arrived, event staff asked, “Where do you come from?” She replied, “Taiwan.” That elicited a dismissive hand gesture and the comment, “Taiwan can’t be here.” It wasn’t until she pulled out her WITSA name card that she got reasonable treatment. The incident still rankles, and it has left Chiu even more determined to find a path forward for Taiwan.

As chair of WITSA, whose members include 82 nations, Chiu is diligently looking to establish mutually beneficial connections between Taiwan and the international community. She takes advantage of all opportunities to knock on doors when she visits member nations, having long chats with member-nation WITSA chairpersons and high-­ranking officials about IT industry policies and needs. But she wants something more from those meetings than just a friendly photograph. She follows up by pushing measures aimed at promoting and developing the IT industry in all member nations, including, of course, Taiwan. She hopes that Taiwan’s industry can form a highly skilled “A team,” which can look for appropriate opportunities to cooperate abroad, engaging in exchanges with member nations that help both sides.

This cosmopolitan woman of the world has never lost her love of Taiwan. In her person, we recognize the virtues of courage and determination, wisdom and conviction.

Seeking her fortune in America in her early 20s, Chiu relied on hard work to make her own way. But she left her heart in Taiwan and came back to help her homeland build connections to the global community via “tech diplomacy.” (photo by Chuang Kung-ju)