The National Science Council announced yesterday that it had secured the help of Intel Microelectronics Asia Ltd Taiwan to facilitate collaborative research between academia and industry, with the aim of commercializing research and marketing it internationally.
"We will take advantage of Intel's strength in commercializing technologies and marketing them to the world -- two qualities which the council has lacked in past projects," said Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁), minister of the council.
Chen spoke to reporters yesterday at the signing of a memorandum of understanding with Intel Taiwan held in conjunction with the two-day Intel Developer Forum at the Taipei International Convention Center.
Cooperation with the chip giant will help to close the collaboration gap between industry and academia while pushing Taiwan to the forefront of the global IT arena, Chen said.
The new cooperation deal will also mark Intel's first official involvement with a government agency in the area of academia-industry collaboration, said John Antone, general manager of Intel Asia-Pacific.
"Taiwan is on par with, or even exceeds in some areas other countries well-known in the IT arena such as the US and Japan. This partnership is a landmark for us with Taiwan and its education sector," Antone added.
On average, each year Intel has 14 projects ongoing with four local universities ? National Taiwan University, National Chiao Tung University, National Tsing Hua University and National Cheng Kung University -- which involve over 20 academics.
These researchers focus in areas including the digital home and medical health, among others, according to Intel's innovation center director Lin Long-song (林榮松).
The chip firm will help identify projects with great potential and then apply for research funding from the council for product commercialization.
At the same time it will continue to share its resources in technology, channels, industrial labs and even new research equipment sponsorship, Lin said.
According to Lee Chih-kung (李世光), director general of the department of English and Applied Sciences at the council, the government has allocated NT$700 million (US$21.6 million) for the projects.
The council -- which commenced facilitating such collaborative projects in 1991 -- had implemented a total of 4,463 projects with funding of NT$4.15 billion up to last year, according to council figures.
Now the deal with Intel is complete, the council hopes to rope in more firms from the private sector to advance local research capabilities to an international level, Lee added.
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