National Science Council (NSC) Minister Cyrus Chu (朱敬一) yesterday told the opening day of the ninth quadrennial National Science and Technology Conference that a new project to shift the leadership in technology programs from the council to various ministries was being devised.
The conference’s main theme is: “How to face Taiwan’s technology transformation.” Seven topics, such as how to deal with the brain drain in the field of technology or how to generate technology projects from a higher administrative level that integrate resources from different ministerial agencies will be main points of discussion. The conference will be attended by government agency heads, academics, industry specialists and influential businesspeople.
The opening ceremony of the two-day conference was hosted by Vice Premier Jiang Yi-hua (江宜樺), with President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) delivering the opening speech about the important role technology plays in helping the nation face a range of challenges from a faltering economy, to evolving industrial development models and attracting international talent.
Quoting remarks made by Academia Sinica’s Kung Hsiang-tsung (孔祥重) that almost nothing had been done too manage the technology industry during the rapid development in information and telecommunications over the past 15 years, and that development policies had failed to change accordingly, Chu said although those words are a little strong, it is true that Taiwan’s technology sector needs to be reformed.
In addition, Chu said the council is planning to implement a new project next year to foster cross-ministerial integration so that the heads of ministries can work together to forge major technology policies, such as the Ten Major Construction Projects, and reform the nation’s technological infrastructure.
Chu said that a large amount of the government’s budget for technological development is dispersed among many small projects proposed by different agencies and reviewed by the council, resulting in ministry heads lacking the authority needed to conduct long-term, influential projects.
The conclusions made at the conference will be handed to the Executive Yuan for review and serve as an important reference for ministries to set science and technology policies and drive related research and development in the coming years, Chu said.
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