A Visit with the Industrial Technology Research Institute The President claims: Innovation in traditional industry will be competitive
President Tsai Ing-wen visited the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) yesterday afternoon to inspect the achievements of innovation, R&D, and industrialization. She showed affirmation for the long-term contribution of the Industrial Technology Research Institute to the solid backing of the local industrial development. When listening to the briefing of Dr. Jassy Wang, the general manager of MegaPro Biomedical, a new company of the Industrial Technology Research Institute, she was informed that the nano-iron oxide drug under development has entered the first phase of clinical trials in this February. There are three phases of clinical trials for the drug development, requiring an investment of a total of 1.2 billion NTD. President Tsai exclaimed this to be "very money-consuming“ and she encourages Dr. Jassy Wang for her devotions and effort, fully expressing empathy for biotechnology and female entrepreneurship.
After listening to President Liu Zhongming’s briefing yesterday, President Tsai made a speech and pointed out that she was particularly interested in the ITRI’s grinding and polishing robot at the Intelligent Automation Exhibition last week, and she watched it again yesterday. She said that in the past few years, she has had some exchanges with the hardware industries in Changhua and Meishui. The grinding process relies heavily on labor, as the polisher is exposed to dust, there is a level of difficulty in quality control. If the "grinding and polishing robot technology" of the Industrial Technology Research Institute can be applied and introduce automation, the quality of products can be improved.
President Tsai believes that the traditional hardware industry is a representative industry in Taiwan and a collection of small and medium-sized enterprises. If the government and various parties can provide assistance to achieve successful transformation and upgrade, it would be an important indicator for traditional industries, as this represents that many traditional industries in Taiwan can become competitive industries in its next generation of industries through innovation and upgrade.