The Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Science and Technology has launched an Innovation and Startups Project to increase the number of young entrepreneurs, with an emphasis on innovation and industry growth, academic Lee Chia-tung (李家同) said.
However, at the Macronix Education Foundation Science Award ceremony on Sunday last week, Lin said he believed young people should spend more time developing their knowledge before starting businesses.
Lee said that both ministries have been stressing the importance of entrepreneurship.
“Young people should not be worried about founding businesses, because the type of business they establish could very soon be caught up with the likes of Xiaomi Co,” Lee said.
Using the memorychip producer Macronix International Co (旺宏電子), which produces read-only memory (ROM) products, as an example, Lee said that unlike programs written by graduates, the ROM unit was so far ahead of its time that others needed years to catch up.
Citing Hitachi as another example, Lee said the company had spent three decades researching and developing its nuclear reactors before they were viable.
This is not the kind of result a college or MA graduate can achieve, Lee said, adding that knowledge should be a priority for young students.
Minister of Science and Technology Deputy Director-General Lin Yi-bing (林一平) on Sunday said that he agrees with Lee’s views.
However, Lin said that, on a tour of Israel, he discovered that student research and development is built on foundations of professional technological knowledge, adding that, in comparison, Taiwanese innovations are shallow and relatively easy to emulate or copy.
The project hopes to guide students through additional courses offered by professionals and the Industrial Technology Research Institute, but people should not be misled into believing that with this help they can become a company executive without solid background knowledge, Lin said.
Deputy Minister of Education Chen Te-hua (陳德華) said he agrees that students should make an effort to ground themselves in professional knowledge, adding that while innovation is important, starting a business is not necessary to market an innovative concept.
It is a choice and the jointly funded project provides resources for young people who want to start a business, Chen said, adding that he did not think the project was in direct contrast with Lee’s opinions.
The jointly-funded project was an effort by the ministries to further integrate knowledge learned in universities and its application in hopes of jump-starting the Taiwanese economy.
The ministries efforts have helped establish 65 companies with innovative concepts which have drawn more than NT$390 million (US$11.81 million) in investment over the past three years, officials said, adding that the Ministry of Education has encouraged schools to establish facilities that would further the project’s influence on campus.
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