President Tsai Ing-wen met on the morning of September 14 with directors from the Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI) and the Taiwan Semiconductor Industry Association (TSIA), as well as the representatives of a number of semiconductor firms from home and abroad. She stressed that the Taiwan government will continue to promote the development of the smart machinery industry to meet the needs of the industrial development, and thus enhance Taiwan's global competitiveness.

President Tsai noted that when she met with representatives from the SEMI and the TSIA in September last year, she was impressed by their ambitious development plans for the semiconductor industry. As the Internet of Things sector and the smart applications market have been growing, the semiconductor industry will also grow. Meanwhile, semiconductor demand for intelligent manufacturing and energy conservation will also spur development of the Industry 4.0 supply chain. From any perspective, she said, the semiconductor industry will continue to have undeniable strategic importance in the future.

The president mentioned that during the meeting last year, she told SEMI Taiwan President Terry Tsao (曹世綸) that one source of Taiwan's industrial competitiveness is the perfect integration of the semiconductor and precision machinery industries. As such, the government launched a Smart Machinery Development Program last year. One of that program's key objectives is for domestic manufacturing—including semiconductor equipment demand—to help domestic equipment manufacturers gain a bigger share of the Industry 4.0 sector.

In addition to expressing hope for the visitors' support for the aforementioned policies, President Tsai also stressed that as long as private companies are willing to increase investment, procurement, and employment in Taiwan, the government will do its utmost to meet their development needs in terms of water, electricity, land and talent. She mentioned that over the past year, the government has continued to relax legal restrictions, and created a one-stop investment service hub that responds to investment queries within 24 hours.

And finally, the president once again welcomed the visitors to Taiwan from the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, and Korea. She also expressed hope that exchanges of opinions will help the government consider how to enhance Taiwan's global competitiveness.

Also in the visiting group were SEMI President and CEO Ajit Manocha and Taiwan's MediaTek Vice Chairman & President Hsieh Ching-Jiang (謝清江).

ITRI's R&D expertise of robotics will be in the international limelight at the 2017 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), the world's largest robotics conference. ICRA is considered the source of many groundbreaking technologies for robotics, self-driving vehicles, and artificial intelligence. At ICRA, top researchers around the globe annually discuss the latest innovations in robotics and automation. Dr. Jwu-Sheng Hu, ITRI's Vice President and General Director of the Mechanical and Mechatronics Systems Research Laboratories, has been invited to serve as one of the Industrial Forum Chairs in ICRA 2017 committee. ITRI's Motion Intelligence Orchestration( MIO) industrial robotics controller and PC-based motion control card EPCIO will also be on display at ICRA 2017. 

Dr. I-Ming Chen of Singapore's Nanyang Technological University and General Chair of this year's ICRA, stated that according to the International Federation of Robotics (IFR), Japan, Korea, and China are the leading markets for industrial robotics, with the Asia Pacific industrial robotics industry contributing to over 50% of overall market revenue. This points to the importance of the Asia Pacific in the global robotics industry and is why ICRA 2017 took place in Singapore, he said. ITRI's Dr. Hu, who is also a Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at National Chiao Tung University, will serve as an Industrial Forum Chair at ICRA 2017 committee. Dr. Hu's background in both academic and research communities will be conducive to forging cooperation with the industrial sector. 

Dr. Hu remarked that interest among international venture capitals in robotics startups is greater than ever due to the increasing maturity of robotics applications. Consequently, a number of startups will unveil their latest technologies and applications at this year's ICRA. At the same time, Dr. Hu pointed out that the pace of research papers being turned into industrial applications is also picking up. ITRI, he said, has long been committed to promoting the commercialization of groundbreaking technology, and it will be on the lookout at this year's conference for the latest international trends in robotics and collaboration opportunities. 

Dr. Nelson Yen-Chung Chang, Manager in ITRI's Mechanical and Systems Research Laboratories, was invited to share R&D achievements at the Industry Forum on May 31. He would introduce the ITRI-developed MIO industrial robotics controller, which has enhanced dynamics control and improved trajectory precision, boosting robotic arm precision by a factor of 10. This will be conducive to precision assembly automation in the aerospace and timepiece industries and will help Taiwan companies seize upon global business opportunities associated with Industry 4.0. 

The IEEE has held ICRA for over 30 years, dating back to 1985. Each year, ICRA brings together experts from the world's leading research institutions and industrial representatives to discuss the latest robotics technologies. Research related to self-driving vehicles and artificial intelligence was among the groundbreaking technology first discussed at the conference. Renowned international companies such as ABB, KIKA, JD, drone manufacturer DJI, Korean educational robot manufacturer ROBOTIS, and Kawasaki Heavy Industries have participated in the event over the years as sponsors.