ITRI's NEXT Consortium Spotting Supernova 21st
Date: 2005-11-30
Release No.: 9411005
ITRI's Creativity Lab on November 30 will hold NEXT Consortium Members Meeting and unveil inventions created at the lab. The event, organized under the theme Spotting Supernova 21st , looks to exhibit the innovative breakthroughs that can be achieved through being playful and taking risks. The Creativity Lab and a number of companies in various industries are working on inventing products that will set future trends and enable technology to truly meet the needs of mankind. Over 200 of Taiwan's top industrialists are expected to participate in the event, signifying the interest of local industry in the pursuit of creativity and innovation.
ITRI Chairman Lin Hsin-I said the ability to increase the level of innovation is the key in overcoming the present bottleneck facing Taiwan enterprises. He added that innovation is a focal point of the government's economic development strategies. Lin said industry must discard old methods of thinking and focus instead on understanding the needs of people and social development trends. The resulting R&D and applications developed will usher in the era of the knowledge economy.
ITRI President Dr. Johnsee Lee said creativity and innovation is the new trend in the next wave of Taiwan's industrial development and is also the latest goal of ITRI. ITRI's Creativity Lab was established with the hope of promoting creativity on Taiwan, sparking industrial innovation and encouraging cross-sector cooperation, serving as a international beacon for creativity.
In April, the NEXT Consortium formally began operation under the umbrella of the Creativity Lab, initiating cross-sector cooperation in the pursuit of a unique developmental platform. Six companies are involved in the consortium, including SYM Taiwan, VIA Technologies, Liuli Gongfang, HIWIN Technologies, Chilin Optronics and Hocheng Corp. Creativity Lab General Director Dr. Wen-Jean Hsueh said ITRI hopes to create an environment advantageous to sparking creativity and acting as an interactive platform, blending together technology and culture. Raising industrial value and innovation competitiveness are crucial to differentiate local products. Outstanding inventions will then be commercialized, serving as pioneers in the field. "We want to tell our own stories of creation," Dr. Hsueh said.
Dr. Hsueh added that the first international strategic collaborator of NEXT Consortium is MIT's Media Laboratory, which is operated as part of the world's foremost R&D institution. Media Lab founder Nicolas Negroponte will be on hand to share the latest developments in the "One Laptop per Child" plan. In addition, Walter Bender, Mitchel Resnick, Andy Lippman, and Hiroshi Ishii from Media Lab are among a number of renowned international experts who will tell their stories and share their Media Lab experiences in terms of cross-disciplinary R&D and need-driven research initiatives with industry representatives here. It is hoped that these perspectives from international heavyweights will help spark continued invention here.
The Creativity Lab will also unveil a number of inventions that highlight the innovative spirit of the lab's team. Dr. Hsueh said the innovation displayed in the exhibition of research achievements comes from the unique life experience of researchers at the unit. Among them are "Cyclic Sprouting," "Greeting Painting," "Dream with your eyes open," "Project AQUA," "Fun Manufacturer," "Thunder Teaser," "TIPS: Technology Imagination Pool Studio," and "Fun Arts." One other example is the concept motorcycle project going on between the Creativity Lab and SYM Taiwan. Architectural concepts have been employed in the exterior design of the motorcycle, hoping to create not only a practical, but also new age aesthetics for the vehicle. Likewise, the Creativity Lab has helped to promote cooperation and spark new cooperative opportunities between the technology sector and the cultural and creative industries. The MIT Media Lab will also exhibit over ten of their inventions. The Creativity Lab believes the exhibit will foster a new thinking and starting point for innovation and invention on Taiwan.
Media Contacts:
- ITRI's Public Relations Department
- June Lin 03-5916093 0963-071839
- Phoebe Hsu 03-5918597 0922-421103
- ITRI's Creativity Laboratory
- Carrent Wang 03-5919089 0935-409626