Taiwan's three-day top-level science and technology advisory meeting closed on Friday with participants calling on the government to take a number of actions to maintain and boost the country's technological competitiveness, including by broadening education in technology.
The Executive Yuan Science and Technology Advisory Board Meeting had opened on Wednesday, returning after a 12-year hiatus.
The meeting had convened top scientists and industry leaders to offer advice on a path forward for Taiwan's technology development over the next 10 years.
Two main themes were said to have been featured. One was green technologies amid the global effort to move toward carbon neutrality, and the other is the possible mutual enhancement between artificial intelligence (AI) and the semiconductor industry.
The closing of the closed-door meeting was followed by a press conference presenting the summarized advice made by the advisory board.
On the topic of the development of and mutual enhancement of semiconductors and AI, Taiwan is to continue "capitalizing on its strengths in semiconductors to become a reliable partner in driving global innovations in semiconductor and AI technology," according to the National Science and Technology Council Executive Secretary Sheen Horn-jiunn (沈弘俊), who was tasked with giving a short summary of what were discussed.
The strategic direction is to emphasize on next-generation talents, accelerating on the development of semiconductor and AI applications, and incubating industrial innovations with generative AI, Sheen said.
Regarding green technologies, the vision is a Taiwan that rises to become "a role model in net-zero transition by way of a knowledge-based route," he said, explaining that the strategic direction to achieving this is to set decarbonization goals "in accordance with Taiwan's traits" and to use the net-zero transition as an opportunity to develop "green local supply chains."
Science and Technology Minister Wu Tsung-tsong (吳政忠) and Academia Sinica President James Liao (廖俊智), who serves as the top technology advisor, were present at the press conference to provide some flesh to the framework directions advised.
"The advisors said that as generative AI will be used in every industry, technical and vocational education should take up more role, rather than be seen as second-tier," Wu said, adding that universities also need to be more aligned with what the industries are doing.
Also tax incentives should no longer be just provided to equipment or hardwares, Wu cited the advisors as saying. "More incentives should also be given to 'brains' and talents and intellectual property."
Liao added that it was advised that Taiwan should work to continue helping the semiconductor ecosystem advance, such as in critical materials and chemicals, to maintain Taiwan's competitive edge in the semiconductor industry.
Giving more details on the advisory board's advice to Taiwan's development in green technologies, Liao said "knowledge-based" net-zero transition based on "Taiwan's traits" means that as every country has its own industrial landscape, Taiwan should take note of the needs of its technological and exporting sectors.
"Also it was said that as technological development is non-linear and new green technologies can spring up, the decarbonization goals should be adjusted on a rolling basis rather than simply setting a 2050 goal," Liao said.
Asked at the press conference why the meeting was recommenced after 12 years, Wu explained that in 2011 the advisory board was restructured to become an office under the Executive Yuan called the "Board of Science and Technology" that did not hold annual meetings.
"However, due to the recent global changes," the "Science and Technology Advisory Board" was resumed in April 2023, said Wu, adding that the networking made possible by the meeting with international scholars and industrial leaders can also help relay Taiwan's voice to the world.
This science and technology advisory board consisted of seven advisors: National Taiwan University President Chen Wen-chang (陳文章), Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Chairman Mark Liu (劉德音), IC designer MediaTek Inc. Chairman Tsai Ming-kai (蔡明介), former Academia Sinica President Wong Chi-huey (翁啟惠), William H. Gates Professor of Computer Science at Harvard University Kung Hsiang-tsung (孔祥重), International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry President Ehud Keinan from Israel, and Alexander von Humboldt Foundation President Robert Schlögl from Germany.