More Taiwanese firms that used to focus their attention on the Chinese market have shifted their focus to California, where technological clusters have expanded from Silicon Valley to other hubs in the south, said Richard Chang (張揚展), director of the Science and Technology Division at the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Los Angeles.
Chang has been stationed in Los Angeles since late 2012 after working in Canada, the US and Germany.
Before those overseas assignments, he was program director of European affairs at the Ministry of Science and Technology in Taipei.
Photo: Lin Chia-nan, Taipei Times
Chang, who plans to retire next year, discussed his observation about the changing technological landscape on the US’ west coast with the Taipei Times earlier this month.
With their previous focus on the Chinese market, some Taiwan-based firms paid relatively little attention to California and vice versa, but things have changed due to the impact of the US-China trade dispute, he said.
Many US institutions have become more cautious about Chinese researchers due to concerns about sensitive technology and intellectual property, which in turn allows Taiwanese more space for development, he said.
While Silicon Valley in northern California used to be the seat of most leading technology firms, its high rent and heavy traffic have driven some businesses to search for locations in southern California, where many prestigious institutions, such as California Institute of Technology, the University of California, Los Angeles and Scripps Research, have paved the way for industrial innovation, he said.
Apart from Hollywood-related firms, Los Angeles is also home to many content providers and software developers, while Google, Apple, Netflix and Snap have established offices there, making the city a hotbed for innovative ideas, he said.
Aerospace company SpaceX built its headquarters near Los Angeles International Airport, while aerospace giant Raytheon set up a space and airborne systems center nearby, he said.
Smartphone chip giant Qualcomm and biotechnology conglomerate Illumina chose San Diego, enticing other firms to form industrial ecosystems in their vicinity, he said.
Describing his own role as a “glue” among tech-related actors, Chang named two Taiwanese firms that are shining on the global stage from their bases in southern California.
Founded by Gene Lay (賴正光) in 2002, BioLegend, which produces antibodies and reagents for immunotherapy, cancer therapy and neuromedicine, is the second-largest biotech firm in San Diego, with branch offices in Japan, Germany, France and the UK, he said.
Lay has kept a relatively low profile in Taiwanese expat circles, while his conception of the biotech industry proved more reliable than those of most Taiwanese players, Chang said.
Just as Lay hopes to supply biotech products “from research to cure,” Taiwan’s biotech industry should not only think about making new drugs, he said.
Knowing that Lay hopes to contribute to Taiwan, Chang helped him search for a venue to set up BioLegend’s second overseas research center in Taiwan, in addition to the one in Japan.
After visiting several sites, Lay decided to build the center in Hsinchu Biomedical Science Park (新竹生物醫學園區) and would require at least one-third of its 150 employees to have doctoral degrees in related areas in a bid to maintain the firm’s edge in research, Chang said.
Another promising Taiwanese firm based in San Diego is Kneron (耐能), founded by former Qualcomm engineer Albert Liu (劉峻誠) in 2015, he said.
It has branch offices in several cities in Taiwan and China.
With its neural processing units, image recognition and edge computing software using artificial intelligence, Kneron has attracted global investors such as Horizon Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Qualcomm Capital, Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fund, Himax Technologies and CDIB Capital, he said.
On April 15, a slogan reading: “NASDAQ congratulates Kneron leading the way in edge AI” was displayed at Times Square in New York City, showing the start-up’s appeal to investors and its potential to become a unicorn and “game changer” in the field, despite its relative youth, Chang said.
Kneron’s success also mirrors the potential of young Taiwanese aiming to make breakthroughs in California, he said.
Under Minister of Science and Technology Chen Liang-gee (陳良基), the ministry has sent 36 doctorate holders to intern at high-tech firms or top research institutions in Los Angeles through its talent cultivation program Learn, Explore, Aspire and Pioneer, he said.
Despite their solid academic training in Taiwan, many interns were required to improve their English proficiency and presentation skills, Chang said, but added that several interns have now been recruited by firms after sharpening their skills.
Taiwan’s economy has suffered from an outflow of talent and high-tech firms over the years, but firms returning in amid the US-China trade dispute have spurred new commercial and job opportunities, he said.
However, young Taiwanese should still broaden their horizons by pursuing further studies or working in top foreign institutions, Chang said.
Speaking after the launch of the Formosat-7 constellation — a Taiwan-US collaborative program — by SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy on June 25 in Florida, Chang said his foremost task before retirement is to realize the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Taiwan and SpaceX.
SpaceX is to send officials to Taiwan to sign the memorandum, while Taiwan’s signatory is yet to be determined, he added.
The firm is developing an Internet network called Starlink, which would consist of nearly 12,000 microsatellites, and Taiwanese suppliers could help build the components and ground stations, given their expertise in electronics manufacturing, precision machinery, and information and communications technology, he said.
With all the opportunities out there, cultivating more high-end professionals is key to boosting Taiwan’s strength, even if they do not generate immediate revenue for the nation, Chang said.
Basic research is the mother of all industrial innovation, as evidenced by the thriving connections between research institutions and businesses on the west coast of the US, he said, urging the government to dedicate more resources to supporting basic research.
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