The success and degree of sophistication of Taiwan’s science and technology development is far greater than the credit it receives, a Canadian scientist said in a recent interview.
“Taiwan’s strength sometimes is not recognized by others ... perhaps because it lives in the shadow of a large neighbor [China],” said Arthur Carty, who was appointed as a science adviser to Taiwan’s premier and a member of the board of Taiwan’s Executive Yuan Science and Technology Advisory Group (STAG) in September 2008.
Taiwan has almost all the elements of a technologically advanced country, including good universities, innovation and leading companies, said Carty, who is also executive director of the Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology at the University of Waterloo in Canada.
Carty jokingly said Canada has been suffering from the same lack of attention because of a powerful neighbor — the US.
Most people don’t recognize Bombardier, the world’s No. 1 air and railway technology company, as a Canadian enterprise, and the same goes for Blackberry smartphone developer Research in Motion, he added.
As an observer of Taiwan’s technology development and a scientist who has collaborated with Taiwan’s universities and research institutes for over a decade, Carty said Taiwan’s investment in science and technology in the past 10 years has been “by and large very wise” and the vast amount of investment has paid off.
Taiwan’s decision 20 years ago to focus on computer and information technology development has turned out to be a brilliant policy as a number of its companies have had global success, he said.
Taiwan’s investment in nanotechnology will also pay off in the future and will benefit all sectors, he said.
However, the development of biotechnology in Taiwan has been “largely unsuccessful” despite the resources and investment the government has poured into it, Carty said. This is probably because the basic research is “not solid enough,” he said.
Another impressive aspect of Taiwan’s development in the field of science is its integrated approach and formulation of national policy, he said.
For example, at a week-long STAG meeting, government officials, industry professionals, research and development experts and academics reviewed and discussed a number of proposals before throwing out the bad ones, he said.
“We don’t have anything like that in Canada, “ said Carty, who served as the first science adviser to the prime minister and the Canadian government from 2004 to 2008.
He said Taiwan and Canada will be able to complement each other in the area of nanotechnology. In Taiwan’s case, it can carry out clinical trials of nano medicine to help Canada in related research fields and provide expertise in solar cell development, he said.
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