Years of effort by the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) to promote industry-academia cooperation projects have produced innovative research and development results that are helping to upgrade and transform industries, Premier Jiang Yi-huah said today.
The premier made the comment after listening to the ministry's report on strategies and measures for strengthening links between the academic and industrial sectors. These strategies include research projects to meet the needs of leading corporations, small firms as well as industrial clusters in the science or industrial parks.
With domestic companies facing increasing competition, the MOST must continue building connections between universities and companies and come up with innovative and timely measures to raise Taiwan's industrial competitiveness, said the premier.
To put the report's proposals into practice, the MOST should also work closely with the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Health and Welfare and Council of Agriculture, and help companies use the research results to enhance their own innovation and competitiveness, Premier Jiang continued.
The premier further pointed out that regulatory easing is another important means of facilitating industry-academia cooperation. He instructed the ministries to thoroughly review and amend regulations in light of actual needs and to ensure that domestic laws stay in line with international standards.
Under these cooperative research projects, the number of patents earned and corporate matching funds soared by 220 percent and 225 percent respectively over the past five years, according to the MOST. In 2013, the ministry approved 1,098 such projects and provided NT$1.78 billion (US$59.54 million) in subsidies. Looking ahead, the MOST will continue working with other ministries to encourage "secular research" at universities, strengthen their connections with industries, and help drive economic growth.