Taiwan can compete in next-generation DRAM race: official

Taipei, March 12 (CNA)
Taiwan can be competitive in the global race to develop the next generation of dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips if it launches a concerted effort now, National Science Council (NSC) head Cyrus C.Y. Chu said Monday.

"I believe Taiwan has a competitive edge in developing next-generation DRAM chips, which enable 3-D stacking and integrate memory and logic," Chu said at his first legislative hearing since assuming office in February.

By next-generation, Chu said he was referring to new technology four or five years down the road, but he did not elaborate on why he believed Taiwan's next-generation DRAM chips could be competitive.

The science minister said the NSC's National Nano Device Laboratories is working on related technology, but it has yet to mature.

"We hope our research will benefit companies, even though it is not being carried out for any specific industry," he said.

Taiwan's DRAM industry has been plagued by financial problems in recent years because of plunging DRAM prices.

Local manufacturers also have had trouble competing against their South Korean rivals because of their small scale and lagging technology.

When asked how he plans to boost the competitiveness of Taiwan's industries, Chu said one of the keys will be to implement a science and technology act that was revised last year and that eases the transfer of technology to the private sector.

The minister said many innovative ideas in Taiwan in the past were confined to papers or patents, but the revision of the act will now allow them to gain commercial value.

He said the other key is to transform the priority of science parks in the country from being efficiency-driven to innovation driven, and to make it easier to transfer innovative ideas to the science parks.

(By Christie Chen)
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