Taiwan’s research achievements continue to shine brightly in the world in this uncertain time. The “2020 Taiwan Innotech Expo – Future Tech” concluded a spectacular three-day run on Sept. 26. The scale of this year’s exhibition was the largest ever. It focused on the areas of precision health ecosystem; electronic & optoelectronics; AI & IOT application; smart machinery and novel materials; and excellence research center, with over 100 innovative technologies on display. The cumulative number of visitors reached 53,000, and 7,000 matchmaking discussions took place. The event was completely unaffected by the current severe global pandemic situation. The Ministry of Science and Technology’s creative team also developed an online VR exhibition for those unable to travel to Taiwan to attend the expo.
Highlight technologies attract industry participation and support
The expo used lively exhibition spaces to simulate various future settings, helping visitors to bridge knowledge gaps and precisely grasp the principles and applications of various technologies. The biggest highlight was “precision health ecosystem,” which proposed the joint research and development results of the public and private sectors as effective solutions to the problems faced by modern humans. This theme covered precision medicine, biotech drugs, digital medicine, and regenerative medicine. A total of 36 items were displayed, including numerous first-in-class drugs. Highlight technologies included “5D Smart City – SmartES Platform,” which was developed with 3D city models as a base and can be integrated with 4D time information and connected to all types of sensors around the world. Meanwhile, “All-Optical Volumetric Physiology for Brain Connectomics: High-Speed Volumetric Imaging, Precise Optical Stimulation Spiking Neural Circuit Models” is the world’s first all-optical physiology capable of millisecond volumetric imaging to observe three-dimensional neural movement and activity in living animal brains. Another highlight was the “Self-Healable, Self-Powered, Stretchable, Transparent Electronic Skin (human-device interfaces) Nanogenerator.” All these technologies showed that Taiwan’s academic and research institutions are at the forefront of technological development.
Major industry players were invited to tour the exhibition. Professionally guided group tours allowed for real-time interaction with technical teams, increasing the chances of successful matchmaking. It is worth mentioning that numerous domestic and foreign pharmaceuticals sent personnel to the expo on scouting trips. This shows that Taiwan’s biotechnology research and development results have commercialization potential and are being recognized by the industry.
Empowering new technologies, holding summit meetings
The Ministry of Science and Technology specially organized two forums, the “Cross-Ministry Summit Meeting – Developing Taiwan’s Precision Health Strategic Industry” and the “2020 Trends Forum – Advanced Deployment of the New Future of the 6G Industry” to respond accordingly to future industrial developments. It invited officials from various ministries and agencies, as well as representatives from industry, academia, and research, to brainstorm together and forge a path for Taiwan’s next star industry.
During the closing ceremony, Science and Technology Minister Wu Tsung-tsong personally presented the “Future Technology Award” to 71 winning teams, and announced the 10 technical teams that were selected for the “People’s Choice Award” (see attachment for the complete list of winners). The Ministry of Science and Technology also recognized teams that actively invest in R&D for technology transfer, conferring the “Outstanding Technology Transfer Contribution Award” on 14 inventors of 10 award-winning technologies.
The curtain has dropped on the 2020 Taiwan Innotech Expo, which means the Future Tech showcase has also come to an end. However, Future Tech will still be accessible online as a virtual expo over the next year as the number of viewers continues to rise, and matchmaking services will continue to be offered. It is hoped that “Taiwan Innotech Expo – Future Tech” can serve as a global science and technology showcase for Taiwan’s academic and research institutions, as well as continue to enrich Taiwan’s research storehouse with diversified digital display content.