- In full:
- Audrey Tang Feng
- Born:
- April 18, 1981, Taipei, Taiwan (age 45)
Audrey Tang
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Who is Audrey Tang?
Audrey Tang, born in Taipei, Taiwan, on April 18, 1981, is a distinguished Taiwanese software developer. Tang is known for becoming the Taiwanese government's youngest cabinet member, as well as the first transgender and nonbinary person to hold such a position.
Tang, who identifies as "postgender" and welcomes any pronouns, showed early intellectual promise, learning to code at eight. By age 14, Tang left school to self-educate and, at 15, started an IT business.
Before entering government, Tang consulted for Apple, contributing to Siri's development, and retired from the private sector at 33. In 2016, Tang became Taiwan's digital minister, advocating for government transparency and using technology to engage the public in policy discussions, such as regulating Uber and distributing face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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What is Audrey Tang known for?
Audrey Tang is a Taiwanese software developer known for becoming the youngest, first transgender, and nonbinary member of Taiwan's cabinet. Tang has championed integrating technology into government and promoting transparency.
From the late 1990s to the late 2000s, Tang worked as an IT consultant and participated in designing programming languages like Perl 6 and Haskell. From 2010 to 2016, Tang was a consultant and digital advisor to Apple, contributing to Siri's development. In 2016, the Taiwanese government appointed Tang as digital minister, where they focused on making government information accessible to the public. During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Tang created a website mapping mask locations, using the National Health Insurance database to track pharmacy stocks in real time.
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What role has Audrey Tang played in Taiwanâs government?
Audrey Tang, a Taiwanese software developer, is the first transgender and nonbinary member of Taiwan's cabinet. As digital minister, Tang advises government sectors on technology, advocating for government transparency and accessible information. During the 2014 Sunflower Movement, Tang's participation raised their public profile, leading to their government position in 2016.
Tang utilizes technology to engage the public in political discussions. For example, they used the vTaiwan platform to crowdsource opinions on regulating the Uber app, integrating public suggestions into government regulations. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Tang created a website displaying mask availability, using the National Health Insurance system to track pharmacy stocks.
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How has Audrey Tang promoted open government and digital democracy?
Audrey Tang, as Taiwan's digital minister, has championed open government and digital democracy by integrating technology into government functions and promoting governmental transparency. Tang aims to make government data accessible to the public and uses technology to involve people in political discussions. For example, Tang used the vTaiwan platform to crowdsource public opinion on regulating the Uber app, aggregating opinions and recommendations from Taiwanese citizens, which the government then used to shape regulations. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Tang created a website mapping mask locations, using the National Health Insurance database to track mask stocks at pharmacies in real time.
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What are some of Audrey Tangâs major technology projects?
Audrey Tang, a Taiwanese software developer and digital minister, has led several major technology projects aimed at integrating technology into government and promoting transparency.
Some of Tang's major projects include:
* vTaiwan As digital minister, Tang promoted the government's online discussion platform, vTaiwan, to crowdsource public opinion on how the rideshare app, Uber, should be regulated. The Taiwanese government then used the data gathered from the platform to shape the regulations that were ultimately proposed in parliament.
* COVID-19 Response At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Tang created a website with a map of locations where Taiwanese residents could find protective face masks. Tang also worked with the Taiwanese National Health Insurance system to publicize real time information from the organizationâs database, which tracked mask stocks at pharmacies nationwide.
* Apple Siri From 2010 to 2016, Tang was a consultant and digital advisor to Apple, where they helped develop the companyâs virtual assistant chatbot, Siri.2 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
How has Audrey Tangâs work influenced technology and society in Taiwan and beyond?
Audrey Tang, a Taiwanese software developer, has significantly impacted technology and society both in Taiwan and beyond. As Taiwan's digital minister, Tang champions governmental transparency, aiming to make government data accessible to the public.
Tang played a crucial role in Taiwan's response to the COVID-19 pandemic by creating a website that mapped locations where people could find face masks. Tang also utilized the vTaiwan platform to crowdsource public opinion on regulating the rideshare app Uber, integrating public suggestions into government regulations. Additionally, Tang helped develop Apple's Siri.
2 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
Audrey Tang (born April 18, 1981, Taipei, Taiwan) is a prolific Taiwanese software developer who became both the youngest and the first transgender and nonbinary member of the Taiwanese governmentâs cabinet. Tang has championed efforts to integrate technology into government functions and to promote governmental transparency.
Tang was diagnosed with a congenital heart defect as a young child. They showed signs of advanced intelligence at a young age and learned to code when they were just eight years old. However, Tangâs heart condition contributed to their difficulty in socializing with other children and attending school. Tang also became frustrated by the speed of their education, because they would understand concepts before their teacher introduced lessons to the class. With their parentsâ permission, Tang dropped out of school at age 14 and continued to educate themself by reading out-of-copyright books online. When Tang was 15 years old, they started their own information technology (IT) business and served as its chief technical officer, leading a team of developers and hackers.
In 2005 Tang came out as a trans woman, changing their name and beginning hormone replacement therapy. Both of their parents approved and supported Tangâs transition. In the 2010s they began to publicly identify as nonbinary. Tang describes their identity as âpostgenderâ and invites the use of any pronouns to refer to themself.
From the late 1990s to the late 2000s, Tang worked in a variety of high-level IT consultancy positions as a contractor and took part in the design and implementation of programming languages such as Perl 6 and Haskell. From 2010 to 2016 Tang was a consultant and digital adviser to Apple and helped develop that companyâs virtual assistant chatbot Siri. Tang was so successful in technology that they retired from the private sector at age 33.
In 2014 Tang joined a group of activists to protest a trade deal between Taiwan and China. The protests, known as the Sunflower Movement, came about because many Taiwanese people felt that the deal had been negotiated without enough transparency. Tangâs participation in the protests raised their public profile, and the Taiwanese government offered them the position of digital minister in 2016.
As digital minister, Tang is charged with advising other government sectors on technological matters. They have dedicated themself to promoting a radical level of government transparency. Tang aims to implement pragmatic technological changes that would make all government information, data, and resources as accessible to the public as possible.
In the 2010s, amid ongoing debate about the rideshare app Uber, Tang used the Taiwanese governmentâs online discussion platform vTaiwan to crowdsource public opinion on how the app, which uses a gig-economy model, should be regulated. Tang promoted vTaiwan as a way for people to participate in the political discussion. Using data gathered from the platform, they aggregated opinions and recommendations from Taiwanese citizens. The Taiwanese government then incorporated the publicâs suggestions to shape the regulations that were ultimately proposed in parliament.
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At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 Tang created a website with a map of locations where Taiwanese residents could find protective face masks. They worked with the Taiwanese National Health Insurance system to publicize information from the organizationâs database, which tracked mask stocks at pharmacies nationwide and in real time.