The Ministry of Science and Technology plans to downsize the National Applied Research Laboratories (NARL) by closing the Taiwan Typhoon and Flood Research Institute and merging two other labs, a source familiar with the matter said on Friday.
The institute’s resources and personnel are to be transferred to the ministry’s National Science and Technology Center for Disaster Reduction (NCDR), the source said.
Meanwhile, the NARL’s National Nano Device Laboratories and National Chip Implementation Center are to be merged into one organization, the source added.
Asked for comment, Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Su Fong-chin (蘇芳慶) yesterday said that the plan aims to maximize the value of the ministry’s research agencies by integrating their resources.
“Government-funded research is required to contribute to society and the economy,” Su said, adding that many lawmakers have called for the NARL to be reorganized.
However, some researchers have expressed concern that the nation’s research on typhoons and floods might be discontinued after the institute is absorbed into the NCDR.
One of the institute’s most well-known projects is the Dropwindsonde Observations for Typhoon Surveillance Near the Taiwan Region (DOTSTAR) program, which deploys a sensor package out of an aircraft to measure storm conditions.
The institute also planned to fly uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) into storms to collect data this summer, but it has not yet done so.
Both programs might be suspended, particularly as the NCDR mainly provides information on which to base disaster prevention suggestions for government officials, a researcher said on Friday on condition of anonymity.
Despite the disapproval of many scientists, the ministry continued to push for the reorganization, probably because some of the institute’s research would not be immediately applicable, the researcher said.
The Central Weather Bureau has maintained a close relationship with the institute, which has helped analyze weather data gathered by satellites, carried out the DOTSTAR program and developed meteorological models, bureau Director-General Yeh Tien-chiang (葉天降) said yesterday.
The bureau expects the institute to continue functioning as usual, but would certainly comply with the government’s policy, he said.
The UAV project would not be continued at the NCDR, whose mission is to apply technologies related to disaster prevention, NARL vice president Wu Kuang-chong (吳光鐘) said.
Asked how the institute’s scientific instruments would be distributed, Wu said the NARL would donate them to the NCDR if it wants them, or to other agencies.
After the NARL’s board approves the reorganization plan in a meeting scheduled for July 25, it would initiate the relevant procedures, NARL president Wang Yeong-her (王永和) said, adding that the reorganization could be completed by next year.
Of the institute’s nearly 50 staff, about 30 have agreed to be transferred to the NCDR, he said.
As for the rest, some would be transferred to other NARL subsidiaries, while the remainder have their own plans, he added.
“Protecting the rights of the institute’s staff is our biggest concern,” Wang said, adding that the NARL would offer severance pay to those leaving the institute, including those who have found new jobs.
The institute’s UAVs, which were purchased from Australia, would be kept at the NARL, which is to establish a task force for uncrewed vehicle applications, he said.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
SECURITY RISK: If there is a conflict between China and Taiwan, ‘there would likely be significant consequences to global economic and security interests,’ it said China remains the top military and cyber threat to the US and continues to make progress on capabilities to seize Taiwan, a report by US intelligence agencies said on Tuesday. The report provides an overview of the “collective insights” of top US intelligence agencies about the security threats to the US posed by foreign nations and criminal organizations. In its Annual Threat Assessment, the agencies divided threats facing the US into two broad categories, “nonstate transnational criminals and terrorists” and “major state actors,” with China, Russia, Iran and North Korea named. Of those countries, “China presents the most comprehensive and robust military threat
RSS