This month’s column details Taiwan’s ongoing attempts to build a homegrown quantum computer, plans to build a launch center for rockets, a forecast of increased semiconductor profits for 2024 and a first public event for the company hoping to help Taiwan become able to mass manufacture advanced vaccines during future pandemics.
Computing
Taiwan is aiming to produce its own quantum computer by 2027, according to the National Science and Technology Council, which has funded the project at a number of academic institutions. So far, the Thematic Center for Quantum Computer at Taiwan’s national academy, Academia Sinica, has managed to develop a computer powered by 5-quantum-bit chips with the help of other domestic and foreign participants.
At the commercial end of things, Taiwan-based computer makers Acer, Asustek Computer Company and Wistron Corporation are all looking to join Foxconn in increasing the amount of production in India, while cutting back in China, they told Nikkei Asia last month.
Space Industry
Despite issues around registering satellite launches without being a member of the International Telecommunications Union, Taiwan’s government plans to select a rocket launch site by the end of this year. Wu Tsung-tsong (吳政忠), chairman of the National Science and Technology Association, said likely sites were in Pingtung or Taitung.
Also this month, U.S. lawmakers have introduced a bill in the Senate proposing to allow NASA to cooperate on civilian projects with Taiwan’s Space Agency (TASA).
Semiconductors
Following on from TSMC opening up its first foundry in Japan, Taiwan’s integrated circuit output will grow by 15.4%, according to an estimate by Taiwan Semiconductor Industry Association. This is predicted to be above worldwide semiconductor industry growth of 13.1%. The International Data Corporation’s recent 2024 Semiconductor Market Outlook webinar attributed overall growth predictions to the rise in the use of generative AI.
Startup Snapshot
Xtraspots, a Taiwan-owned startup launched last month in New York, is aiming to become the Airbnb of parking spaces. Offering users the chance to rent out their private parking spaces — on the basis of a profit share — its Taiwanese founder says its ultimate aim is to expand into allowing users to rent out electric vehicle charging points.
Renewable Transition
In a speech on Tuesday (March 19), President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) emphasized the plan for Taiwan to triple its renewable energy capacity by 2030.
Taiwan’s green power supply volume is estimated to increase from 1.7 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) in 2023, to 3.7 billion kWh in 2024, according to Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs. Fifty-six renewable energy companies have gained permits from the Energy Administration to sell electricity. Announced this month, the government-set price for electricity generated by solar panels was slightly reduced from last year, but a separate rate was set for small rooftop solar developments to encourage more small-scale homeowners to install them.
Taiwanese aquaculture company ID WATER (艾滴科技股份有限公司) has just secured $100 million New Taiwan dollars (around $3 million) in funding. It converts wastewater from shrimp farms into nutrient solutions that help grow mangrove forests and thus allows companies that use the technology to purchase carbon credits. Already operating in Southeast Asia, the company plans to expand into Central and South America and Africa.
Medical Tech
Quanta (廣達電腦) Chairman Barry Lam said this month that Taiwan is positioned to become a “global hub for developing the AI healthcare industry,” while President Tsai lauded Taiwan’s creation of a “a big data health care system.”
Taiwan Bio-Manufacturing Corp (TBMC, 臺灣生物醫藥製造) aims to be the TSMC of pharmaceutical manufacturing, it said at its first public event last month. Established by the government-run Industrial Technology Research Institute and the Development Center for Biotechnology, its chairman said it had been formed in response to Taiwan’s inability to mass manufacture mRNA vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic. It “specializes in the contract manufacturing of biologics,” as well as “manufacture vaccines during a pandemic,” he said.
At the end of January, AI specialist Osense signed a deal with Malaysia’s largest provider of software solutions for clinics and medical centers to provide automated customer service.
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