Minister of Science and Technology Chen Liang-gee (陳良基) yesterday launched the Global Research and Industry Alliance (GLORIA), a project which aims to connect academic research with industrial commercialization.
“The nation’s academic research is excellent, but it does not help domestic industries to upgrade,” Chen said, adding that the project aims to be “an ecological system” to bridge the gap.
It is regrettable that Taiwanese universities do not have an international industrial research and development center, such as in the US, where the close collaboration between academics and businesses at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Stanford University are inspiring, he said.
The project aims to attract more than 200 businesses and NT$4 billion (US$132.9 million) to universities, which could attract more than 4,000 skilled people to industry, he said.
“Industrial representatives often say that Taiwan lacks many things, but through this alliance we can at least secure more specialized people and techniques,” Pegatron Corp (和碩) and Taipei Computer Association chairman Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢) said.
Taiwan has about 23 million people, far more than Israel, Switzerland, Finland and Singapore, yet those nations have higher average per capita income than Taiwan, Tung said, adding that Taiwan should take advantage of its strengths to trigger economic development.
International Business Machines Corp (IBM) general manager Lisa Kao (高璐華) yesterday expressed her support for the project.
IBM has worked with Tamkang University and National Chiao Tung University to develop artificial intelligence and robot technology, she said, adding that the MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab was founded in the US earlier this month.
Asked if the alliance would help improve salaries in Taiwan, she said “one’s future can be boundless if they are equipped with specialized skills.”
The ministry said it has received applications from 16 universities in relation to the development of artificial intelligence technology, “green” energy, financial technology, new agriculture and others.
The universities awarded GLORIA funding are to be announced later this month.
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