Preface

In the process of social development, there are various risks of unexpected accidents and changes in external long-term pressure, which may cause negative impacts on social stability and development. Building a resilient society has become an urgent task for governments. Because of its geographic location, Taiwan faces the threat of natural disasters all year round, and is more eager to build a resilient society. ITRI, as a major driver of Taiwan’s technology R&D, is injecting new momentum into the construction of a resilient society with its forward-looking technology plans.

A resilient society requiresthe ability not only to cope with unexpected events but also to adapt and transform under long-term pressures. For Taiwan, these contingencies may be frequent earthquakes and typhoons, or major transportation or industrial accidents. For example, the magnitude 7.2 earthquake that struck Hualien in April 2024 and the devastation caused by Typhoon Kemi that hit Taiwan in late July once again underscored the urgency of enhancing social resilience.

A Resilient Society Recovers Quickly and Prompts Further Transformation.

Yet, challenges do not arise solely from emergencies. Long-term stressors, such as an aging population, climate change, and turbulences in international trade are invariably testing Taiwan’s ability to adapt and transform. For example, with the global supply chain restructuring and geopolitical changes, how to ensure the independence of key materials and equipment has become a key issue affecting the growth of Taiwan’s industries.

Utilizing Technology Solutions is an Important Strategic Approach to Building a Resilient Society.

The core of building a resilient society is to enhance the ability of the social system to prevent, respond, and recover. This means not only being able to quickly return to normal operations in the event of a disaster, but more importantly, being able to turn a crisis into an opportunity totransform and upgrade society. For example, although the COVID-19 pandemic had a huge impact, it accelerated the popularization of new work modes such as work from home, which is a concrete manifestation of social resilience.

There are a number of strategies that need to be explored in order to build a resilient society, as these strategies will help to improve the ability of society to cope with various challenges and to maintain essential operations. These include:

• Diversification Strategy:To establish a multi-functional system, e.g., expanding the sources of water resources, including reclaimed water and desalination (Chapter 3-3).
• Decentralization Strategy:To reduce the risk of damage to centralized systems, e.g., develop decentralized power grids to improve power system resilience (Chapter 2-6 & 3-1).
• Substitution Strategy:To temporarily compensate for functional deficiencies, e.g., use of drones to deliver relief supplies during disasters (Chapter 2-5).

Building a resilient society requires efforts from various fronts, including policy planning, legal and regulatory systems, infrastructure, information and communications support, and public education. Making good use of emerging technologies can enhance the effectiveness of the resilience programs and meet the needs of the society. The innovations include:

• Digital Technology:Installing sensors and cameras in transportation infrastructures can provide real-time information. Establishing smart grids and virtual power plants can increase power resilience. Building 3D topographic and disaster risk maps of the country can assist in disaster prevention and relief. Utilizing voice assistants can improve healthcare efficiency and combat large-scale infectious diseases. Using tele-diagnosis can enhance healthcare services in remote areas (Chapter 2-1, 2-2 & 2-7).
• Intelligent Technology: Thecombination of big data and AI can predict natural disasters, strengthen risk warning, and build a cross-unit disaster prevention and relief intelligence system. The use of AI technology can help mitigate the risks of cyberattacks and frauds, such as detecting deepfake images and false messages, as well as strengthening digital identity verification and processing malicious emails (Chapter 2-1, 2-2 & 2-4).
• Autonomous Technology:This includes utilizing unmanned vehicles for disaster response, using low-orbit satellites and drones to provide emergency communications in disaster areas, and coping with labor shortage through autonomous mobile robots (Chapter 2-3, 2-5 & 3-4).

Missioned with Technology R&D and Industrialization, ITRI Continues to Deliver Technology Solutions for Building a Resilient Society.

In its 2035 Technology Strategy and Roadmap, ITRI focuses on building a resilient society and promotes technology R&D and applications from three aspects: infrastructure resilience, resource and energy resilience, and productivity resilience.

In terms of infrastructure resilience, the R&D focuses include strengthening the operational resilience of critical infrastructures such as power, communications, transportation, and logistics. In the area of resource and energy resilience, we have technology development that enhances the resilience of energy storage and transportation, water resources, and the supply of key materials. In the area of productivity resilience, we have adopted technology solutions to ensure that the workforce, production equipment, and components of key industries such as semiconductors can maintain the productivity required for business operations.

ITRI adopts a rolling R&D strategy to continuously plan and develop corresponding technologies, products, and innovative application programs. The achievements are as follows:

• Drone Technology: The development of long-range, high-payload, and hydrogen fuel cell drones has been used for power tower maintenance, disaster area material supply, and bridge inspection (Chapter 2-5).
• Power Grid Technology: The multi-microgrid resilience technology and regional power grid disaster response technology can strengthen the early warning, response, and recovery capabilities of the power supply system (Chapter 3-1).
• Communications Technology: The high-altitude communications technology integrates satellite and terrestrial networks, and builds a stable and robust communications network system (Chapter 3-1).
• Semiconductor Materials and Equipment:ITRI has promoted domestic chip production and increased the localization of key materials and equipment. We are also developing low-carbon circular mineral technology to increase the rate of domestic production (Chapter 3-2).
• Robotics: ITRI’s Detachable Robot Joint System, combined with Gen AI, is easy for manufacturers to adopt and offers high flexibility for industrial applications (Chapter 3-4).

In addition to developing R&D application solutions for resilient societies, ITRI aims to collaborate with various sectors both within and beyond Taiwan. Through technology integration and innovative applications, the Institute hopes to help the country accelerate the development of a resilient society and create new business opportunities for the industry.