Co-chaired by the UK's National Technology Adviser, Dr. Dave Smith and Deputy Director General of International Trade Administration of Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), Susan Chi-Chuan Hu, the 2nd UK-Taiwan Semiconductor Dialogue took place in Taipei last Friday (6 September) amid SEMCON Taiwan 2024, where 24 British semiconductors businesses presented at the UK Pavilion. The two sides discussed the potential to expand cooperation on talent and skills, aiming to build on the existing UK-Taiwan Innovative Industries Programme. A joint skills programme could incorporate strengths from both sides to create a pipeline of talent for the global semiconductor industry.
On R&D the two sides agreed to explore further mutual funding opportunities to support semiconductor-specific projects focusing on particular technology problems or applications that draw on complementary strengths. Participants from both sides also discussed global supply chains and chip security, including feedback from the OECD Semiconductor Informal Exchange Network, which both the UK and Taiwan have participated in over the last year.
The UK's and Taiwan's semiconductor sectors are highly complementary. With the UK's strength in R&D and Taiwan's strength in advanced manufacturing, the UK and Taiwan are both playing important roles in the innovation that will unlock key future industries, including quantum computing and clean energy technologies.
The UK-Taiwan Dialogue encouraged join-up between the two eco-systems, building on existing cooperation such as the £10 million UK-Taiwan Collaborative R&D programme.
Semiconductors have been identified as one of the UK's priority critical technologies. Our vision is to secure the UK's place in the world-leading semiconductor technologies of the future, by doubling down on the UK's strengths in chip design/architectures, compound/new material semiconductors, silicon photonics and advanced packaging techniques.
This year the Dialogue was also attended by representatives from the UK's Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, British Office in Taipei, National Physical Laboratory and Innovate UK, with Taiwanese officials from MOEA, Ministry of Digital Affairs and Industrial Technology Research Institute.
Notes:
- The 1st UK-Taiwan Semiconductor Dialogue took place in Taiwan in July 2023.
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The current UK-Taiwan Innovative Industries Programme provides funding for researchers of business R&D sectors or of R&D institutes to visit each other for R&D projects. UK researchers visiting Taiwan can apply here.
