Another step taken toward Czech-Taiwan cooperation

15 Nov. 2011 | CzechInvest | Czech Technology Days in Taiwan help to define new areas of support for cooperation in science and research

How to mutually interconnect, for example, methods for researching treatment for post-traumatic conditions, steps which should be taken to obtain financial resources for these purposes, how technology parks function in Taiwan and the specific experience of Czech firms in conducting business there were among the issues addressed during the third Czech-Taiwan Technology Days focused on nuclear energy and ICT in combination with biomedical technologies. The event took place from 8 to 11 November 2011.

These common themes most forcefully resonated among researches from top university facilities of both countries – centres of excellence at the Czech Technical University (ČVUT) in Prague, National Chen Kung University, National Tsing Hua University and Brno University of Technology (BUT). The Technology Days event attracted harbingers of potential success in the form of business projects on Taiwan.

The possibilities of exchanging information and human resources as well as particular programmes were discussed in Taipei on Friday, 11 November, with representatives of the Taiwanese Ministry of Economy and the National Science Council of Taiwan. “We agreed with the Taiwanese side on additional steps which will be necessary to take for setting up mutual technological cooperation in selected sectors, such as information and communication technologies, energy, biomedical technologies and nanotechnology. We would be pleased to involve Taiwanese firms in community programmes such as the 7th framework programme,” say Petr Očko, director of the EU Funds, Research and Development Section at the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic.

“Small and medium-sized enterprises comprise nearly 98% of all businesses on Taiwan. They have strong innovation potential and they are dedicating more and more resources to research and development. We would like to maintain this direction in the Czech Republic as well, and Taiwan is very inspiring for us in terms of cooperation in research and development,” adds Miroslav Křížek, CEO of CzechInvest, which organised the third Czech-Taiwan Technology Days in cooperation with other partners.

“The Czech delegation’s visit to National Chen Kung University in Tainan and other top facilities confirmed that there are more than a few areas for joint research projects with Czech universities. The National Science Council, which in Taiwan ensures support for research and the development of technology parks, should in the near future sign an agreement on mobility with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport of the Czech Republic,” says Juraj Koudelka, head of the Czech Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei.

In the area of biomedical engineering, Václav Křemen of the Department of Cybernetics at ČVUT in Prague, which is an EU Centre of Excellence, found with his counterpart common themes in the area researching the treatment of post-traumatic conditions and ambulation analysis. We agreed on the possibility of creating a research pilot project which would involve biological feedback and neurophysical ambulatory rehabilitation, whereas we would provide the part involving artificial intelligence and the Taiwanese partners would supply the advanced technological part,” explains Křemen.

A similar spectrum of interests in the area of nuclear energy was discovered in Taiwan by Jiří Martinec of the Department of Nuclear Energy at BUT and Igor Jex, head of the Department of Physics at ČVUT. “As the subject of a joint project we could focus on the crisis of boiling in a nuclear reactor or on fourth-generation nuclear reactors, where it is not necessary to enrich uranium,” says Martinec. “For us, the visit to Taiwan is evidence that what we are doing in the areas of nuclear energy and education in nuclear fields is internationally comparable and we have a lot to offer,” adds Jex.

Petr Seliger, director of the Czech company KOUKAAM a.s., a distributor of IP camera security systems and manufacturer of separate recording devices for IP cameras, shared his valuable experience with doing business in Taiwan. “Taiwan, as the mother of the IT industry, was a logical choice for us. The nation pursues a transparent government policy and has a productive manufacturing environment,” says Seliger, describing the main advantages of operating on the island.

While in Taiwan, the Czech delegation visited Chen Kung and Tsing Hua Universities and the island’s most important technology parks: Tainan Scientific Park, Kaohsiung Science Park, Hsinchu Science Park and the Industrial Technology Research Institute.

Czech Technology Days have been organised by CzechInvest since the project was initiated in 2005 in the form of bilateral international conferences. Since the project’s inception, Czech Technology Days have been held in 22 countries, whereas the latest event took place from 8 to 11 November in Taiwan and was organised by CzechInvest together with the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, which also assisted with financing the event, as well as the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Prague, the Czech Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei, National Cheng Kung University and the National Science Council in Taiwan.