The Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) is to establish a new division in Israel to draw on that nation’s technological innovations and business models, a ministry official said yesterday on condition of anonymity.
The ministry has 16 overseas technology divisions that work with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Taiwan’s representative offices abroad.
Israeli research on artificial intelligence (AI), quantum computing and biomedical technology are robust, and businesses in Israel are experienced at developing new business models to turn technological achievements into marketable products, the official said.
“Taiwan and Israel are very similar — both are densely populated and have limited resources,” the official said, adding that Taiwan can learn from Israel about using a minimum of resources to achieve the greatest technological innovations.
With the new division expected to be officially set up by June, MOST intends to send Taiwanese talent to work at Israeli enterprises through its “Learn, Explore, Aspire, Pioneer” program, which has sent people aged 40 and younger to Silicon Valley and France for internships of between six and 12 months, the official said.
In other news, the nation’s participation in last month’s trade show in Las Vegas, Nevada, was fruitful, Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Hsu Yu-chin (許有進) said yesterday.
At the trade show, the ministry led 32 start-up teams in exhibiting AI and Internet of Things technologies, “smart” wearables, and applications in “smart” biotechnology, “smart” medicine, virtual reality and augmented reality.
The start-up teams received purchase orders totaling US$600,000, with potential collaboration and investment expected to total in the millions of dollars, he said.
Before the show, Robotelf Technologies Co was awarded the Robotics and Drones Innovation Award for its home security robot, while iXensor Inc won one of the Best of Baby Tech Awards with its Eveline Smart Fertility System during the show, he said.
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
Taitung County is to launch charter flights to Malaysia at the end of this year, after setting up flights to Vietnam and Thailand, the Taitung County Government said yesterday. The new charter flight services, provided by low-cost carrier Batik Air Malaysia, would be part of five-day tour packages for visits to Taitung County or Malaysia. The Batik Air charter flight, with about 200 seats, would take Malaysian tourists to Taitung on Dec. 30 and then at 12:35pm return to Kuala Lumpur with Taiwanese tourists. Another charter flight would bring the Taiwanese home on Jan. 3 next year, arriving at 5:30pm, before taking the
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
An exhibition celebrating Taiwan and Japan’s comic culture opened on Saturday in Taichung, featuring a section that explores Taiwanese reproductions of Japanese comics from when martial law limited Japanese representation. “A Century of Manga Culture: An Encounter of Taiwan and Japan’s Youth” held its Taiwan opening ceremony at Taichung’s National Taiwan Museum of Comics after an initial one-month run in Japan’s Kyoto International Manga Museum between May 24 and June 24. Much like the Kyoto exhibition, the show mainly celebrates the comic connection between Taiwan and Japan through late Taiwanese comic book
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