August 4, 2006
Chunghwa Telecom and Productivity Architect Co. are the latest Taiwan companies to join the Next Consortium, an organization devoted to helping Taiwan companies move from contract-manufacturing to innovation.
The Next Consortium was launched in 2004 by the Creativity Lab, a division of the Industrial Technology Research Institute (
ITRI), which developed the group in a strategic partnership with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab.
The consortium aims to stimulate creativity, create an environment for innovative thinking among Taiwan companies, and offer a platform for the implementation of new ideas.
Creativity and innovation will spur the next wave of opportunities for Taiwan industries, said
ITRI President Johnsee Lee, noting that the Next Consortium integrates the core advantages of companies while bringing different disciplines and talented people together.
There are a total of eight members in the consortium covering a broad range of industries, including automaker Sanyang Industry, glass artwork company Liuligongfang, chipset maker VIA Technologies, rear-projection TV producer Chi Lin Optronics, and sanitary-ware maker Hocheng Corp.
A cooperative venture between Chunghwa Telecom and Productivity Architect is already underway for a construction project in Taichung.
Consortium members pay an annual fee ranging between
NTD 1 million and
NTD 6.8 million, with the Department of Industrial Technology under the Ministry of Economic Affairs subsidizing 20 to 30 percent of the cost.
(Economic Daily News, Taipei Times)
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