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By Lo Tien pin and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writer
President-elect William Lai (賴清德) is considering creating an advanced defense technology agency soon after assuming office later this month, an official with knowledge of the matter said yesterday.
The authority the agency would have and whether the National Security Council or Ministry of National Defense would oversee it has not been decided, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
In a pre-recorded video at the Hill and Valley Forum in Washington on Wednesday, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) said that Taiwan is a reliable partner and should be included in US defense supply chains.
Photo courtesy of the Presidential Office via CNA
Taiwan is learning from the US’ experience in 2015 of creating the Defense Innovation Unit under the Department of Defense to facilitate the application of cutting-edge technology to military needs, Hsiao said.
The Ministry of National Defense in June 2016 confirmed it would create a “Taiwanese DARPA” in 2017, a reference to the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
The ministry-proposed organization, to be staffed by 20 project managers with doctorates in a defense technology-relevant field or who have experience in the industry, was to receive an annual budget of NT$300 million (US$9.27 million), it said at the time.
The unit was intended to facilitate closer military-academic collaboration and ensure that defense projects benefit from up-to-date knowledge, including Academia Sinica’s latest projects, the ministry said.
The unit would avoid programs that appeared to duplicate other projects and endeavors that would waste resources by being created in-house, it said.
The project later floundered amid opposition from military officials and legislators.
At the time, lawmakers and critics of the project demanded that the ministry improve the integration of research and development capabilities in the government, academia and the armament production sector, rather than adding more bureaucracy.
The source said that governments worldwide are establishing mechanisms to manage innovations in defense technology.
As such, the implementation of Lai’s proposal is a certainty, they said.
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