History of the Information and Networking Center

The "Information and Networking Center of the National Taipei University of Business” is hereafter referred to as the Center.

The Center was established in August 1971 and originally named the "Electronic Computing Center," it was affiliated with the Department of Electronic Computing, with the department chair concurrently serving as the center director.

In February 1972, a CDC-3150 mid-sized computer system was rented (including two disk drives, four tape drives, a card reader, a line printer and eight IBM card punching machines), the same model used by National Taiwan University, Soochow University and Taiwan Railways Administration at the time.

From July 1973 to July 1976, the Center supported the computerized grading for university entrance exams organized by the National Taiwan University, the National Chiao Tung University and the Fu Jen Catholic University.

Between 1973 and July 1976, the Center collaborated with:

The Department of Education, Taipei City Government, assisting Taipei Municipal Dazhi High School in designing a student performance evaluation system.

Taipei Water Department in designing a water billing system, printing water bills, ledgers and statistical reports for the northern district, and later assisting Taipei Water Department in establishing its independent water billing operations.

Securities Management Commission in designing a securities settlement system, which was transferred to the Chinese Culture University in July 1975.

In 1977, the Center was placed under the Office of Academic Affairs.

In July 1977, a TI-990/12 computer system (with a card reader, line printer and two disk drives) was installed, along with a classroom with about 30 terminals.

In 1981, a SHARP PC classroom was set up.

In 1984, a "Big Doctor" PC classroom was established.

In 1986, an IBM-compatible PC classroom was added.

In 1986, the Center's office moved from the 4th to the 5th floor of the Administrative Building, where a Digital VAX 8300 classroom and three PC labs were established.

By 1991, the office expanded to both the 5th and 6th floors, each housing four PC labs.

In 1994, networking of PC classrooms began.

From 1995 to 1998, fiber optic networks connecting major buildings were installed.

In 1996, a T1 network connected the university to TANet, later upgraded to T3.

Between 1998 and 2000, the Center supported the computerized processing of the Joint Entrance Examination for Five-Year Junior Colleges in northern Taiwan.

From 1986 to 2000, the Center also supported the Joint Entrance Examination for Evening Two-Year Junior Colleges in northern Taiwan.

In 1992-1993 and 1998-1999, the Center assisted with the Joint Entrance Examination for Four-Year Institutes of Technology and Two-Year Junior Colleges in northern Taiwan.

In 1999, the university established the "Information Development Committee" to review the Center's budget and oversee information development progress.

In 2000, with assistance from Yuan Ze University, the academic affairs information system was completed.

On August 1, 2001, with the university's reorganization into the "National Taipei College of Business," the Center became a first-tier administrative unit.

In September 2001, a HiNet backup network (512K/64K) was installed. In November 2002, the backup network was upgraded to HiNet ADSL T1 (1.54M/384K).

In September 2003, two Seednet ADSL backup lines (512K/512K) were added. In October 2004, another ADSL backup line (8M/640K) via Taiwan Fixed Network was added.

In March 2004, campus-wide wireless networking (IEEE 802.11b) was introduced.

In June 2004, the campus network was connected to the TANet Next-Generation Backbone Network via GBIC, with a bandwidth of 200 Mbps.

In March 2006, the university implemented the inter-campus roaming mechanism as part of the “Ministry of Economic Affairs’ Wireless Broadband Network Demonstration and Application Project”.

On August 1, 2014, the university was renamed the "National Taipei University of Business" and the Center was renamed the "Information and Networking Center."

In May 2015, a new energy-saving data center was built with centralized environmental control and separate hot and cold aisles, with equipment relocated in August.

In November 2016, the Center passed certification by SGS Taiwan and obtained the ISO/IEC 27001:2013 Information Security Management System (ISMS) certification from UKAS.

Since 1986, the center director has been independently appointed rather than concurrently held by department heads. Past directors since 1986: Wei-Min Wang, Pi-Lien Cheng, Hai-Ching Chang, Wen-Hao Liao, Chi-Yen Huang, Hon-Ren Lin, Chi-Lin Lee, Yi-Fan Wang, Chi-Yen Huang, and Jinn-Shyong Yang. The current director is Kuo-Chun Hsu.

Current Organization and Operations

In accordance with the university’s organizational regulations, the Center is divided into two divisions: Administrative Information Division and Network Systems Division. The Center currently comprises 1 Director overseeing and promoting center affairs, 1 Head of Administrative Information Division, 1 Head of Network Systems Division, 1 Senior Technical Specialist, 1 Assistant Technical Specialist, 2 Technical Officers, 1 Programmer, 1 Systems Analyst, and 3 Software Engineers.

Planning and promoting the computerization of university administrative affairs.

Evaluating and managing computer hardware and software for all university units.

Maintaining computer equipment and managing the use of supplies and materials.

Supporting teaching and administrative operations, including the management and establishment of computer classrooms.

Providing consultation services for the use of computer hardware and software.

Preparing and executing the Center’s budget.

Planning, building, maintaining and managing the campus network.

Developing and maintaining the university’s official website.

Managing and maintaining servers for Internet application services.

Offering consultation and technical support for network-related issues and applications.

Philosophy and Goals

The Center is committed to three core administrative goals: supporting academic activities across all departments, ensuring the quality and security of network communications, and continuously promoting the computerization of university administrative affairs.

In terms of teaching support, the Center currently manages and maintains eight computer classrooms, each equipped with 55 to 60 PCs. Every PC is connected to both the campus network and the Taiwan Academic Network (TANet). To support all teaching activities, the computer classrooms are open for hands-on teaching sessions and free student access during class hours. On weekends, in addition to student use, the classrooms are occasionally used for various examinations, certifications and training programs organized in collaboration with other units.

To ensure high-quality network communications, the campus network backbone has been built with an 800 Mbps fiber-optic connection. For redundancy, one 300 Mbps/100 Mbps and two 100 Mbps/100 Mbps next-generation backup lines have been established to prevent disruptions in the event of a mainline failure. Additionally, in response to the growing demands from faculty, students, and administrative staff for computing resources, the Center has been actively planning and gradually establishing a comprehensive campus network. All major campus buildings are interconnected via fiber-optic cables, which are further extended to information access points in each office. Currently, 118 wireless access points have been installed, achieving 100% wireless coverage across the campus.

In line with the increasing demand for administrative computerization across various units, the Center has continued to support the development of computerized administrative systems. Major systems already in place include the Academic Affairs System, Student Affairs System, Open College Academic Affairs System and the Continuing Education Academic Affairs System. With the ongoing changes of the times, the Center is also planning new IT support strategies to meet the evolving needs of emerging services. To enhance service quality and technical support, the Center not only assigns dedicated personnel to maintain information systems but also provides comprehensive consultation services and technical support for both hardware and software use.

Plans and Prospects

Cultivating In-House System Development Capabilities. Due to organizational constraints and limited manpower, the university’s information systems have historically relied heavily on outsourcing. However, the challenges of system maintenance after outsourcing have often restricted flexibility in system adjustments. To enhance autonomy in system development, accumulate experience, and strengthen professional software design capabilities, the Center plans to cultivate in-house development capacity through short-term staff realignment and ongoing training.

Strengthening Backup and Disaster Recovery Mechanisms. Currently, all major administrative system servers and databases are housed in the server room on the sixth floor of Cheng-Shi Building. To protect critical university data from potential accidents, the Center plans to relocate backup and disaster recovery systems to the Taoyuan Campus, further strengthening data security and resilience.

Establishing a Second Data Center. As dependency on various information systems deepens across university units and with continuous expansion in computerization, the number of servers and network devices keeps growing. With the establishment of new departments at the Taoyuan Campus, planning for a second data center has become a necessary and urgent task.

Organizational Restructuring and Reinvention. In an era of rapid technological advancement and a flattening global landscape, both individuals and institutions must adapt through organizational restructuring and reinvention to sustain long-term development in an ever-changing information society.