2016 ANNUAL REVIEW Ministry of Science and Technology

5 In the face of rapidly changing S&T trends, Taiwan urgently needs various types of top- notch talent capable of establishing linkage with S&T developments around the world. MOST has accordingly introduced the "Postdoctoral Innovation Star Program," which provides for sending doctoral-level manpower with innovative ideas and entrepreneurial ambitions to Silicon Valley to learn advanced industrial technology R&D, and eventually serve as innovative technological personnel with an international perspective and strategic thinking. MOST has further initiated the Leaders in Future Trend (LIFT) program in order to attract personnel who have gone overseas for their education back to Taiwan, where they can contribute what they have learned, including an international outlook, new S&T knowledge, and advanced application trends. Upon their return to Taiwan, such personnel can engage in in-depth interchange with domestic industry, academia, and research organizations, so that the new knowledge they have acquired overseas can stimulate industrial innovation and technological leaps. By systematically selecting and sending personnel overseas for training, cultivating human resources, and encouraging talented personnel to return to Taiwan, MOST will ensure that the country has constant supply of skilled manpower, and provide new impetus for Taiwan's research and development and industrial innovation. With regard to the development of science parks, enterprises in Taiwan's science parks achieved a record-high revenue of NT$2.38 trillion in 2016, which represented growth of 2.94% compared with 2015. Employment in the science parks reached 269,041 persons, which was an increase of 3,950 compared with the end of 2015. Apart from actively establishing an environment in which startups can thrive, MOST has also been promoting the three major science parks as platforms on which industry, academia, and research organizations can engage in interchange, draw on the parks' peripheral resources, provide assistance and services, and attract entrepreneurial teams, which will accelerate the growth of startups. In conjunction with the "Silicon Valley Tech Entrepreneurship Training Program" and "Innovation & Entrepreneurship Platform Development Program," MOST is creating an all-inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystem, and is actively expanding recruiting in a wide range of industries in order to promote the science parks' innovative transformation. Looking ahead to the future, MOST will take investigation of new science and technology and integration of S&T resources as its mission, continue to strengthen academic capabilities, establish an honest, effective academic research environment, fine-tune academic research award and grant regulations, induce outstanding personnel to engage in practical research areas, create innovative S&T ecosystems, train world-class innovative and entrepreneurial manpower, and inject boundless vitality into Taiwan's S&T innovation and industrial development. MOST Minister Liang-Gee Chen