Taiwan Design Research Institute hosts APEC seminar on AI design innovation

The Taiwan Design Research Institute (TDRI) launched the 2026 APEC International Seminar on AI-Driven Design Innovation in Taipei on September 16. The two-day event gathered nearly 100 experts from government, industry, academia, and research institutions representing eight APEC economies, including Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Peru, the Philippines, Chinese Taipei, and Thailand.

Supported by the Department of Industrial Technology (DoIT) under Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs, the seminar focuses on integrating artificial intelligence with design to boost regional competitiveness. TDRI President Chi-Yi Chang highlighted the development of an AI Technology and Application Platform specifically for the design sector. This platform includes capabilities such as prompt engineering, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), and specialized AI agents designed to fit professional workflows.

The initiative aims to accelerate digital transformation for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and improve efficiency in product development. TDRI reports that its AI tools can reduce annual development costs by 5-10 percent and cut manual data analysis time by approximately 30 percent. The seminar also addresses policy, talent development, and regional cooperation in design innovation.