The production value of Taiwan's nanotechnology-related industries and fields is expected to reach NT$300 billion (US$8.9 billion) by 2008 with the concerted efforts of the government and the private sector, Vice President Annette Lu (
Addressing the opening of the Taiwan Nano Tech 2004 exposition at the Taipei International Convention Center, Lu said that Taiwan's industrial manufacturing sector has made commendable achievements since the country launched the National Science and Technology Program for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology in January last year.
Over the past two years, Lu said, 186 companies have become involved in research, development and production, churning out NT$70 billion in products and technologies that bear the "nano" label.
Production is expected to top NT$300 billion by 2008, by which time 800 companies will be involved, commanding roughly 25 percent of original intellectual property rights in Taiwan, according to Lu.
Intellectual property
Four years after that, in 2012, some 1,500 companies are expected to be operating in Taiwan's nanoscience and nanotechnology industry, with combined production value exceeding NT$1 trillion and controlling the intellectual property rights of 60 percent of products from Taiwan, she added.
Nanotechnology, expected to be one of the mainstream industries of the 21st century, is creating a new wave of technological revolution and a new manufacturing industry around the world, Lu said.
To facilitate the progress of Taiwan's program, the National Technological Programming Office for Nanoscience has contracted Academia Sinica, National Taiwan University, National Tsinghua University, National Cheng Kung University, National Chiao Tung University and National Sun Yat-sen University to work on related R&D, with the Industrial Technology Research Institute Nanotechnology Center as the executive nerve [center], Lu said.
She said that in the process of nanoindustrial development, some areas must enjoy top priority attention -- including the building of core facilities, the sharing and distribution of applications and the nurturing of a skilled workforce -- to allow sustainable development.
Taiwan Nano Tech 2004 opened at the Taipei International Convention Center yesterday for a four-day run.
The exposition, designed to promote nanotechnology to the general public and give a perspective on the wide use of nanotechnology, features the 2004 New Nano Products and Technology Conference -- a workshop publicizing the results of the National Science and Technology Program for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology -- and a forum on the nanotechnology business.
Wide applications
The applications of nanotechnology have created many new developments and products, and have expanded to influence industries and fields such as aviation, materials, mechanics, electronics, biotechnology and the military, hence creating many new business opportunities, officials from the National Technological Programming Office for Nanoscience said.
Last November, Alan MacDiarmid, winner of the 2002 Nobel Prize for chemistry, was invited to attend the 2003 Nanotechnology Forum in Taiwan. He told the forum that he believes that Taiwan's nanotechnology research and development is very competitive compared with Europe and Japan. He also foresaw Taiwan becoming "the semiconductor island" and very possibly also becoming "the nanotechnology island."
Globally, highly innovative countries such as the US, Japan and others have been devoting resources to research, development and applications of nanoscience. Taiwan started the National Science and Technology Program for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology in January last year.
The program, a six-year initiative, is a concerted endeavor undertaken by scientists, researchers and specialists from the National Science Council, the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Atomic Energy Commission, the Ministry of Education and the Department of Health.
Over the past year, people involved in the program have given nearly 100 presentations to introduce the results of their research and development, officials said.
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