ITRI-SPRIE Forum sheds light on interdisciplinary collaboration for smart green innovation

More than 100 delegates gathered in Taipei on December 14th to attend the 2011 ITRI-SPRIE Forum on “Interdisciplinary Collaboration for Smart Green Innovation”, jointly organized by Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) and the Stanford Program on Regions of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (SPRIE). Industrial Economics & Knowledge Center (IEK) of ITRI and SPRIE have collaborated since 2004 to conduct research and convene policymakers, executives and researchers at international forums in Taipei, Beijing, and at Stanford creating a platform between Taiwan, mainland China, and Silicon Valley to advance innovation and economic growth.

Focusing on strategies for commercialization of green technologies, the one-day Forum, sponsored by Taiwan’s Department of Industrial Technology (DoIT) at Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), attracted a crowd of senior executives of large enterprises and clean-energy startups in Taiwan, local government officials, think-tank experts and academics from local research institutions and universities. The discussion included the importance of information technologies in reducing carbon emissions and the opportunities this presented to Taiwan given its strengths in IT.

The event follows SPRIE’s international forum on Innovation Beyond Boundaries: Partnerships for Advancing Smart, Green Living, held on June 29th and 30th, 2011 at Stanford University.

Executive Yuan Minister without Portfolio Jin-fu Chang opened the Forum at Taipei International Convention Center. The keynote address was delivered by Professor Dan Reicher, executive director of Stanford University’s Steyer-Taylor Center for Energy Policy and Finance, former Department of Energy assistant secretary under the Clinton administration and member of President Obama's transition team. In his keynote presentation entitled “Clean Energy: The Intersection of Technology, Policy and Finance”, Professor Reicher pointed out the importance of government support of energy technology commercialization, including new financial models for technology application and smart standards for energy efficiency.

The invitation-only morning panel discussion, chaired by MOEA Vice Minister Jung-Chiou Huang, covered a range of issues, including public-private partnerships for technology innovation and market applications, policies to boost smart green innovative competitiveness, and central/local collaboration schemes to achieve smart green city and industry development.

During the afternoon session open to the public, Stephen Su, General Director of IEK, argued that Taiwan holds enormous potential to become an innovation base for smart green technologies, with its strong foundation in the ICT industry and advanced supply chain management. He noted this could be a new potential industry for Taiwan and Silicon Valley to collaborate after the semiconductor industry to extend the advantages of regional competitiveness.

SPRIE faculty co-directors William F. Miller and Henry S. Rowen also shared their views and experience on public-private partnerships for green growth and strategies for innovation at the Forum.

The Forum concluded that transferring technologies to industry for society’s use and benefit is in the common interest of government, research institutions and enterprises. It will also continue to act as the engine of knowledge-based economies and innovative growth. Low-carbon economic development will rely on integration of interdisciplinary innovation, and the implementation of technology commercialization, in order to amplify the benefit of R & D investment.

Major Taiwan media outlets such as the United Daily News, Central News Agency and Mechanical Tech. Magazine all covered the event.