The Cabinet yesterday approved a four-year science and technology development program to boost the digital economy and to use “smart” technologies to meet various challenges facing the nation, such as an aging population and climate change.
The National Science and Technology Development Plan outlines four major categories of development from this year to 2020 to help the nation adapt to changing industrial trends: innovating and recreating economic momentum with digital technologies; developing “smart” assistive living technologies and industries; cultivating and attracting talent; and building a thriving research and innovation ecosystem.
To achieve those goals, the Ministry of Science and Technology is to build an “Artificial Intelligence (AI) Robot Maker Space” over a four-year period with a NT$2 billion (US$65.8 million) budget, which is to become a center for innovative economics, ministry officials told a news conference in Taipei.
Digital technologies are to be used to meet the challenges of an aging population, a low fertility rate, outbreaks of contagious disease, extreme weather and food safety issues, Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Su Fong-chin (蘇芳慶) said.
Renewable energy and disaster prevention would also be a major focus of the program, including a smart power grid project to boost the share of renewable energy production to 20 percent by 2025 and the development of a disaster prevention system.
The program is also to allocate funds to retain international talent and offer scholarships for young researchers to study in California’s Silicon Valley.
It includes the proposed “Yushan Scholar” project, which would offer a subsidy of up to NT$5 million per year to selected academics and researchers on top of their annual salary.
The ministry plans to amend the Fundamental Science and Technology Act (科學技術基本法) and other relevant laws to allow academics and researchers to work on extracurricular projects and receive dividends from their patents to boost innovation.
“Technological advantage is key to a nation’s competitiveness, and Taiwan has to utilize its technological edge to speed up scientific and technological development,” Premier William Lai (賴清德) said.
The “five plus two” industrial development project — an initiative to develop an “Asian Silicon Valley,” biomedicine, “green” energy, “smart” machinery and a national defense industry, as well as a new agricultural model and a circular economy — is based on the nation’s advanced semiconductor and information and communication technology industries, Lai said.
The relationship between the “five plus two” project and those industries is reciprocal and the government will not ignore those industries, Lai added, after Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co chairman Morris Chang (張忠謀) complained about the focus on developing the “five plus two” industries.
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a "tsunami watch" alert after a magnitude 8.7 earthquake struck off the Kamchatka Peninsula in northeastern Russia earlier in the morning. The quake struck off the east coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula at 7:25am (Taiwan time) at a depth of about 19km, the CWA said, citing figures from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The CWA's Seismological Center said preliminary assessments indicate that a tsunami could reach Taiwan's coastal areas by 1:18pm today. The CWA urged residents along the coast to stay alert and take necessary precautions as waves as high as 1m could hit the southeastern
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: The imports from Belize would replace those from Honduras, whose shrimp exports have dropped 67 percent since cutting ties in 2023 Maintaining ties with Taiwan has economic benefits, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday, citing the approval of frozen whiteleg shrimp imports from Belize by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example. The FDA on Wednesday approved the tariff-free imports from Belize after the whiteleg shrimp passed the Systematic Inspection of Imported Food, which would continue to boost mutual trade, the ministry said. Taiwan’s annual consumption of whiteleg shrimps stands at 30,000 tonnes, far exceeding domestic production, the ministry said. Taiwan used to fill the gap by importing shrimps from Honduras, but purchases slumped after Tegucigalpa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan
The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a southwestern extension of the Sanying MRT Line from New Taipei to Bade District (八德) in Taoyuan, with a goal of starting construction by late 2026. The 4.03-kilometer extension, featuring three new stations, will run from the current terminus at Yingtao Fude Station (LB12) in New Taipei City to Dannan Station (LB14), where it will connect with Taoyuan’s Green Line, New Taipei City Metro Corp said in a statement. This extension will follow the completion of core Sanying Line, a 14.29-kilometer medium-capacity system linking Tucheng (土城), Sansia (三峽)