Representatives from Taiwan’s top chipmakers yesterday met with government officials to discuss establishing a “semiconductor academy” that would supply the local industry with talent, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said.
The semiconductor industry would have a “big say” in how the academy is to be structured, as the private sector is paying for half of it, Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua (王美花) said.
“It will be conducted in an experimental sandbox, where existing rules can be relaxed as talent is trained for the industry,” Wang said.
Photo: Huang Pei-chun, Taipei Times
The meeting, which was led by Vice Premier Shen Jong-chin (沈榮津), included representatives from “every leading Taiwanese semiconductor manufacturer,” as well as Minister of Education Pan Wen-chung (潘文忠), she said.
The Cabinet last year approved a draft bill regarding collaboration between the industry and academia, as well as talent development for the nation’s strategic industries.
The bill, which is under review by the Legislative Yuan, aims to alleviate a shortage of talented workers in the local semiconductor industry, as well as other key areas, the ministry said.
It calls for leading universities — National Taiwan University, National Cheng Kung University, National Tsing Hua University and National Chiao Tung University — to join the industry in launching the semiconductor academy.
Over 12 years, the government would inject up to NT$9.6 billion (US$338.86 million) into the program, while the industry would contribute at least that much, the ministry said, adding that the program is expected to train 400 new semiconductor workers.
soft landing: The US’ rate-setting FOMC finds itself in a difficult situation as it seeks to address inflation through interest rate hikes while avoiding a recession The US Federal Reserve is widely expected to hold interest rates steady on Wednesday after a summer of mixed economic data, while leaving the door open to another hike if needed. The Fed has raised interest rates 11 times over the past 18 months, lifting its key lending rate to a level not seen for 22 years as it tackles inflation still stubbornly above its long-term target of 2 percent. Analysts and traders broadly expect the US central bank to hold rates steady on Wednesday in order to give policymakers more time to assess the health of the world’s largest economy. “We think
AI TREND: TSMC has been rapidly expanding capacity to meet a spike in demand for advanced packaging services, but still expects supplies to be tight for 18 months Arizona is in talks with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) about advanced chip packaging, state Governor Katie Hobbs said yesterday, which is crucial for the manufacturing of artificial intelligence (AI) chips. TSMC, which is building a US$40 billion chip factory in the US state, has not announced plans to build facilities for advanced chip packaging in the US. Advanced packaging processes stitch multiple chips together into a single device, lowering the added cost of more powerful computing. “Part of our efforts at building the semiconductor ecosystem is focusing on advanced packaging, so we have several things in the works around that
At a sprawling South Korean arms factory on Friday, a high-tech production line of robots and super-skilled workers were rapidly churning out weapons that could, eventually, play a role in Ukraine. Since the Russian invasion last year, the Hanwha Aerospace factory in the southern city of Changwon has expanded production capacity three times, workers told reporters, as South Korea ramps up arms exports while traditional behemoths like the US struggle with production shortages. Longstanding domestic policy bars Seoul from selling weapons into active conflicts, but even so it signed deals worth US$17.3 billion last year, including a US$12.7 billion agreement with NATO
Tailwinds: Blockbuster earnings at Nvidia Corp have sparked hopes of a tech sector boom; Taiwanese chipmakers are hopeful benefits will come to them too The worst could be over for the New Taiwan dollar as China’s economic recovery and a rebound in the chip industry will support the beleaguered currency, analysts said. The NT dollar is on course to weaken for a sixth month, the longest stretch since 2006, after foreign funds turned sour on its technology sector and risk sentiment deteriorated on slower growth in China. The tide seems to be turning now on nascent signs of stabilization in China’s economy — its biggest trading partner — following policy boosts. The yuan emerged as the best-performing Asian currency last week, followed by the Japanese yen
RSS