The Minister of Digital Affairs, Audrey Tang, led a delegation to Israel and Belgium and arrived in Tel Aviv on June 26th. Minister Tang was invited to deliver a speech at the Cyber Week 2023 international forum – Israel's annual cyber security event. This will be the first time that a minister from Taiwan has delivered a public speech in Israel, and Minister Tang is expected to share, with over 9,000 international cybersecurity experts, Taiwan's experience in responding to overseas cyber attacks and defending democracy. During this trip, Minister Tang will visit Belgium to meet with Belgian and EU officials and to exchange views on AI and cyber security issues.

The Forum is an annual international cyber security event which has been held in Tel Aviv since June 2011, and is co-organized by the Blavatnik Interdisciplinary Cyber Research Center (ICRC) of Tel Aviv University and The Yuval Ne'eman Workshop for Technology and Security. This year's Cyber Week, which runs from June 26 to 29, is expected to attract more than 9,000 elites from the international cyber security community.

Minister Tang was invited to participate in the event by Professor Isaac Ben-Israel, founder of the ICRC and former chairman of the Israel National R&D council. In addition to being invited to speak at the Main Plenary, Minister Tang is also expected to participate in a panel discussion and roundtable discussion with international experts on international joint defense, in the hope that all sectors will join hands to safeguard democracy.

Minister Tang is expected to meet with members of Israel-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Association, and to visit Israeli cybersecurity start-ups, hoping to strengthen cooperation between Taiwan and Israel when it comes to digital services and cyber security issues.

Later on, Minister Tang will visit Belgium to meet with the EU Executive Committee's Directorate General for Information, Communications, Networks and Technology (DG CONNECT). The minister will also engage with key figures from the EU and Belgian industry, government and academia, with a view to having dialogue and exchanges on AI, digital government and cyber security. The overall goal of these meetings is to deepen the connection between the EU and Taiwan when it comes to various digital issues, as well as the link between Israel and Taiwan.

Through this visit, Minister Tang hopes to deepen cooperation with Israel, the EU and Belgium in the areas of information and security, digital government, digital industry and application innovation, and to join hands with international democratic partners to enhance digital resilience.