During these days of a rapidly changing knowledge economy, strength in technology has become the key to superiority in the global competition. It has also contributed to the growth of domestic industries in many countries. There are two types of technological strengths, one being strength in industrial technology and the other in research and development. Overall, Taiwan's strength in industrial technology today is of high quality. Taiwan also has superiority in manufacturing certain items. As far as technological strength in research and development, however, Taiwan is not comparable to Japan due to its being weaker in both basic and applied research.
This study will first theoretically analyze technological innovation and economic development, and the benefits of scientific technology. Secondly, it will list several primary scientific indices to demonstrate Taiwan's accomplishments in the field of scientific technology in recent years. Thirdly, similar scientific indices in Japan will also be listed in order to show Japan's accomplishments and current stage in scientific technology. Finally, this study will conclude with a comparison between Taiwan and Japan in their technological strength based on the results of a study conducted by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO).
