Business representatives in southern Taiwan yesterday said that full support from the government and research organizations would be crucial to future industrial transformation.
Showing their eagerness to hear the latest information about nanotechnology research, more than 500 representatives of diverse industries attended a panel discussion on nanotechnology research held by the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) in Kaohsiung yesterday.
Representatives said that they sensed signs of an economic recovery, but what they needed urgently was full support from both the government and research organizations to promote nanotechnology, which is innovative and will soon be closely linked to daily life.
"Japan in particular has focused on making nanotechnology applicable to a diverse number of industries" said Chen Wen-yuan (陳文源), chairman of the Kaohsiung Chamber of Industry (高雄市工業會).
"We hope the Taiwanese government and the ITRI will also copy the Japanese way of transferring nanotechnology to industry," Chen said.
Since January 2000 when then-US President Bill Clinton announced the US National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI), an increasing awareness of nanotechnology as one of the most important technologies for the 21st century has lead to substantial increases in related nanotech funding in several Asian countries.
Many of them -- such as Japan, China and South Korea -- have launched various national government programs. Last year, Japan vowed to make related technologies practical within 10 years.
Meanwhile, Taiwan's national nanotechnology program is expected to launch officially next year and its estimated expense from now until 2007 will be about NT$19.2 billion.
The event held yesterday in Kaohsiung was the starting point of a series of panel discussions conducted by the ITRI on the latest information about nanotechnology research.
By the end of March, the ITRI will share the newest information on nanotechnology research with industry leaders in Tainan, Taichung, Hsinchu and Taipei.
Nanotechnology involves the creation and utilization of materials, devices and systems through the control and manipulation of matter at the nanometer scale, that is, at the level of atoms, molecules and supramolecular structures.
A nanometer -- one billionth of a meter -- is about 10,000 times narrower than a human hair and about four times wider than an atom.
Yang Jih-chang (楊日昌), ITRI Executive vice president, said that Taiwan's competitiveness in the future would rely on current efforts in promoting nanotechnology.
Yang, also the director of newly formed ITRI Nanotechnology Research Center, said that the center would spend at least NT$700 million this year to promote research pertaining to information storage, integrated circuits, displays, opto-communications, micro fuel-cells and other technologies.
Yang said that diverse industries in Taiwan would eventually be influenced by the future application of nanotechnology, because the revolutionary technology will make it possible to produce smarter computers, anti-dust paints, anti-ultraviolet fibers and other things.
"About NT$90 billion in output in traditional industries, such as textiles ... will be seen within three years," Yang claimed.
Kao Kuo-lun (高國倫), managing director of the Kaohsiung-based Eternal Chemical Company (長興化工), said yesterday that the company had applied the results of nanomaterials research to its products, such as paint.
"The application of nanotechnology can not only upgrade existing products, but also create additional value," Kao 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