The Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Science and Technology has launched an Innovation and Startups Project to increase the number of young entrepreneurs, with an emphasis on innovation and industry growth, academic Lee Chia-tung (李家同) said.
However, at the Macronix Education Foundation Science Award ceremony on Sunday last week, Lin said he believed young people should spend more time developing their knowledge before starting businesses.
Lee said that both ministries have been stressing the importance of entrepreneurship.
“Young people should not be worried about founding businesses, because the type of business they establish could very soon be caught up with the likes of Xiaomi Co,” Lee said.
Using the memorychip producer Macronix International Co (旺宏電子), which produces read-only memory (ROM) products, as an example, Lee said that unlike programs written by graduates, the ROM unit was so far ahead of its time that others needed years to catch up.
Citing Hitachi as another example, Lee said the company had spent three decades researching and developing its nuclear reactors before they were viable.
This is not the kind of result a college or MA graduate can achieve, Lee said, adding that knowledge should be a priority for young students.
Minister of Science and Technology Deputy Director-General Lin Yi-bing (林一平) on Sunday said that he agrees with Lee’s views.
However, Lin said that, on a tour of Israel, he discovered that student research and development is built on foundations of professional technological knowledge, adding that, in comparison, Taiwanese innovations are shallow and relatively easy to emulate or copy.
The project hopes to guide students through additional courses offered by professionals and the Industrial Technology Research Institute, but people should not be misled into believing that with this help they can become a company executive without solid background knowledge, Lin said.
Deputy Minister of Education Chen Te-hua (陳德華) said he agrees that students should make an effort to ground themselves in professional knowledge, adding that while innovation is important, starting a business is not necessary to market an innovative concept.
It is a choice and the jointly funded project provides resources for young people who want to start a business, Chen said, adding that he did not think the project was in direct contrast with Lee’s opinions.
The jointly-funded project was an effort by the ministries to further integrate knowledge learned in universities and its application in hopes of jump-starting the Taiwanese economy.
The ministries efforts have helped establish 65 companies with innovative concepts which have drawn more than NT$390 million (US$11.81 million) in investment over the past three years, officials said, adding that the Ministry of Education has encouraged schools to establish facilities that would further the project’s influence on campus.
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central
RSS