82 Taiwanese Students Complete BCIT 'Youth Billion Plan' Internship

Eighty-two Taiwanese students aged 18 to 30 have completed the "Youth Billion Plan" internship program at the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) in Canada. The students, from diverse backgrounds including university freshmen and police officers, interned in fields such as aerospace, cybersecurity, forensic science, mechanical engineering, climate sustainability, and automotive repair.

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I want to thank the 'Youth Billion' students for choosing BCIT, and also thank Representative Liu Li-hsin, Secretary Hsia Nien-ting, and Secretary Lu Wei-lien from the Ministry of Education for facilitating the internship of Taiwanese students at BCIT. The arrival of these students is extremely important to our school.

During the closing ceremony on August 7, BCIT Vice President Justin Williams thanked the students and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Vancouver for facilitating the program. He encouraged students to broaden their horizons and think in different ways, emphasizing that there is rarely only one solution to a problem. "The Youth Billion Plan" is a key initiative of Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te, aimed at providing overseas internship opportunities for young Taiwanese.

Liu Li-hsin, Representative of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Vancouver, highlighted the program's role in fostering practical exchanges between Taiwan and Canada in diplomacy and technology. She noted that Canada's Indo-Pacific Strategy, revised three years ago, aims to strengthen people-to-people exchanges, including in science and education cooperation, making British Columbia an ideal location for students interested in AI, quantum science, and environmental science.

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"The Youth Billion" plan is an important policy of our President Lai Ching-te, who hopes to help Taiwanese youth gain overseas internship and learning experience.

Among the graduates was Lin Chih-hsuan, a forensic police officer from New Taipei City, who specialized in cybersecurity. She expressed that the program allowed her to learn cybersecurity skills alongside university students and graduates, creating a valuable network for future collaboration on cyber-related cases. The program also featured an award for an "automatic charger shutdown" concept presented by students Luo Shih-chieh, Hou Wen-hsin, and Kuo Ting-ya, designed to mitigate risks associated with prolonged phone charging.

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Canada's Indo-Pacific Strategy, revised three years ago, strengthens exchanges between Canadians and Taiwanese people, including in the fields of technological and educational cooperation. AI and quantum science research, as well as environmental science, are strengths of British Columbia's technological development, making it the right choice for students to study here.

Provincial government officials from British Columbia, including MLAs Paul Choi and Lawrence Mok, attended the ceremony to congratulate the students. Choi encouraged them to consider pursuing further studies or immigration in Canada. The students also expressed their gratitude to their instructors on a large thank-you card.

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After graduating, if I encounter cybersecurity-related issues in my work as a detective, I can discuss them with these "Billion Plan" classmates. This is one of the gains from participating in the "Billion Plan."