There is no time to lose in the overall development of the nation's telecommunications industries, Premier Jiang Yi-huah said today after a briefing by the Executive Yuan Office of Science and Technology (OST) on the government's program to accelerate the development of mobile broadband services and industries.
Jiang instructed Minister without Portfolio Chiang Been-huang to set up a cross-ministerial communication platform to coordinate and oversee various agencies' requisite tasks, budget allocation and execution in order to ensure the project's resources are employed to maximum benefit.
The premier made these remarks while presiding over the sixth meeting of the Executive Yuan Board of Science and Technology. Progress on preparatory work for the 2015 central government science and technology (S&T) development plan, plans for the formulation of review mechanisms for S&T policies, and the status and development direction of the Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (CSIST) were also presented at the meeting.
Taiwan is advancing toward fourth-generation mobile communication, and the construction of a mobile-broadband-friendly environment is having a major impact on enhancing quality of life and national strength, the OST stated during its briefing on the plan to accelerate broadband development.
The premier instructed the OST to expedite the formulation of the three-year program so that after it is approved by the Executive Yuan and implemented, the public can enjoy good quality yet reasonably priced high-speed mobile services as soon as possible.
After hearing the Ministry of Science and Technology's (MOST) report on the preparatory work for the 2015 central government S&T development plans, Premier Jiang gave instructions that the allocation of next year's S&T resources should in principle be based on the planning by the National Science Council (the precursor to the MOST).
Besides requesting the MOST to join hands with the OST to complete the review of next year's various S&T projects on schedule, he urged the two agencies to closely communicate, coordinate and cooperate with each other to improve the mechanisms governing resource allocation and project review so that such resources can be put to good use to bolster the nation's key industries and help boost overall economic growth.
As for the S&T policy and technology screening mechanisms proposed by the OST, Jiang indicated that in the future the OST and the MOST should implement the policy and technology screening mechanisms, respectively, so as to effectively link S&T policy, resource allocation and performance. The two agencies were also directed to seek opinions from other ministries and complete the concrete content of the plans for the screening mechanisms, which will be first put into practice for the 2016 government S&T development plans.
Regarding the status and development of the CSIST, Jiang said that because the agency owns the ability to conduct research and development (R&D) of large-scale national defense systems and basic industrial technologies, its mission has been orientated toward national defense S&T development and industrial needs since it was transformed to an administrative juridical person on April 16, 2014.
The premier agreed in principle to the Ministry of National Defense's (MND) application for S&T budget on top of national defense budget in support of the development of technologies suitable for both military and civilian use. He requested the MND to carefully plan concrete measures, complementary management mechanisms and relevant competent authorities for R&D of such technologies to ensure that resources are well-utilized to strengthen the momentum for R&D of national defense S&T.