Most public convenience services in Taiwan today are digitalized. To reduce paper-based operations, the government largely provides services to the public online. Since corporatization in 2012, the Taichung Branch has provided electronic services for use by operators, the public, and port-area enterprises.
When electronic services were first introduced, the physical servers purchased by the Taichung Branch had ample performance capacity and were numerous. In recent years, to reduce server usage in the information server room, physical servers have been gradually upgraded toward virtualization. All of the Taichung Branch's externally facing business information systems now run as virtualized services, and the number of physical hosts has been reduced by about 90%. The reduction in physical hosts has substantially increased energy savings, while the performance and quality of external services remain unchanged. Because the number of physical server hosts fell sharply, fewer cabinets were needed online, substantially reducing the space used by the information server room. Cabinet positions were therefore adjusted and the server-room footprint reduced, shrinking the area that air conditioning must cool, which in turn allowed a substantial reduction from the originally planned air-conditioning tonnage. The convection space for cooled air was also greatly reduced, lowering air-conditioning—one of the major sources of electricity consumption in the server room—and substantially cutting power used for air-conditioning tonnage. Systems were also changed to inverter air conditioners. Thus, after the Taichung Branch information server room moved from physical hosts to virtualized hosts and further reduced the space in use, electricity consumption by air conditioning and physical servers fell substantially, efficiently achieving the sustainable operations policy promoted by the government.
To comply with the Cyber Security Management Act and implement the ISO 27001 information security management system—and to avoid cyberattacks or external factors that could prevent information systems from operating normally and force a return to paper-based operations—the Taichung Branch has introduced a defense-in-depth cybersecurity protection strategy so that systems can continue operating. It conducts regular cybersecurity testing every year, strengthens the cybersecurity resilience of information systems, and annually conducts business continuity drills for all systems, enabling the Taichung Branch's electronic services to continue operating and substantially reducing system interruption time or likelihood.
The Taichung Branch's main external systems today—the port operations management system, tank truck refueling system, and container pickup/delivery appointment system—now provide normal, stable service and have substantially reduced paper use. With the introduction of server virtualization through information technology, the number of servers has fallen sharply, and the Taichung Branch information server room has likewise reduced electricity consumption.
In summary, the Information Office of the Taichung Branch has recently aligned with ESG policy by reducing paper and electricity use as well as carbon emissions, while continuing to apply information technology and strengthen cybersecurity protection, becoming an ESG benchmark among state-owned enterprises.
