In recent years, the international political and economic landscape has been shaken by many black swan events, including the U.S.-China confrontation, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Ukraine-Russia war. These incidents have resulted in far-reaching consequences, reshaping the highly specialized global supply chain that has developed over decades. Echoing the quote from Greek philosopher Heraclitus, “change is the only constant in life,” the World Economic Forum (WEF) has noted that we are in a world where polycrisis is the norm. In response to increasingly complex and unpredictable risks, resilience is the only way for countries, industries and individuals alike to survive.
Resilience is the comprehensive ability to provide early warning, mitigate shocks, maintain basic operations, and recover or adapt swiftly to the new realities in the face of unexpected major risks or long-term pressures that may affect the stability of industries. For Taiwan, which has limited resources yet plays a crucial role in international manufacturing and trade, leveraging technology to build a resilient society is imperative for the government, industry and communities.
Developing a resilient society does not depend on a single technology breakthrough; instead, it requires the integration of multiple technologies with a focus on intelligence, diversification, decentralization and substitution. In early 2024, ITRI rolled out the 2035 Technology Strategy and Roadmap, which introduces Resilient Society as a new domain to complement the existing Smart Living, Quality Health, and Sustainable Environment. The new domain emphasizes enhancing resilience in infrastructure, resource & energy, and productivity. The R&D efforts aim to bolster national and social resilience, turning crises into opportunities and creating new niches.
The IEKTopics 2024—Resilience in Action: Technology Enables a Sustainable Taiwan—serves as a guide to fostering resilience. In this publication you can see both the forest and the trees—dig into the details and see the overall trends. A macro perspective begins at the national level, discussing policies and regulations, and drawing on practices of Japan, the U.S., and the EU to enhance social resilience through policy guidance and technology applications. From the experience of Japan, which is in the same seismic zone and geographically adjacent to Taiwan, we can learn about how “the Five-Year Acceleration Plan” has strengthened disaster prevention/ mitigation and critical infrastructure through digital technology. At the industry level, we have been uncovering new business opportunities by sharing examples of technology R&D, applications, and startups delivering resilience solutions.
More importantly, we have been exploring how to utilize innovative technologies to enhance our ability to respond to risks and recover quickly, so as to build a more resilient society. For example, infrastructure resilience is the core basis for ensuring daily life and economic operations. ITRI has developed multi-microgrid resilience technology to strengthen the power supply system’s warning, response, backup, and recovery capabilities to minimize the social and economic impacts of sudden risks.
In the area of resource & energy resilience, it is vital to strengthen the transportation, storage, and maintenance of resources and energy. Given Taiwan’s reliance on imports for special raw materials in many industries, enhancing supply resilience of key resources is particularly important. To increase domestic production of the materials for semiconductors and electric vehicles, ITRI has developed low-carbon circular mineral technology and key composition analysis and evaluation technology of rare earth permanent magnet waste sources. Advancements in recovery, decomposition, and recycling technologies will further reduce our reliance on imported critical materials.
With global aging and demographic changes, labor shortages have become a pressing issue, making productivity resilience a worldwide concern. Taiwan, where the manufacturing sector is dominant, must plan ahead and establish relevant maintaining, adjustable or alternative solutions and technologies to sustain productivity. ITRI has integrated robotics into manufacturing systems to develop the Detachable Joint Robot System and promote digitalization to pass on human expert skills. This approach helps the industry address labor shortages and improve production efficiency and quality.
ITRI’s resilience strategy not only highlights technological innovations that can enhance social resilience but also reveals significant commercial potential. As an old Chinese saying goes, “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.” We hope that through this publication’s international benchmark cases and ITRI’s innovative technological solutions, we can bring more inspiration to readers. While unexpected situations may rise, early identification of technology gaps and proactive preparations can open up new possibilities and business opportunities for a resilient society, empowering us for every challenge.
