On the morning of August 9, President Ma Ying-jeou attended a press conference introducing the Republic of China (Taiwan) Presidential Innovation Awards. The president emphasized that the awards are intended to encourage the public to pursue a broad array of innovation, enabling innovation to become a national movement that ultimately further enhances the wellbeing of the public.
In remarks, President Ma stated that on the second anniversary of his inauguration in 2010, he proposed his "six steps to a better Taiwan," namely: to strengthen the country through innovation; revive the country by promoting culture; save the country through environmental protection; stabilize the country by adhering to the constitution; secure the country by providing social services; and protect the country by promoting peace. The focus of the first of these six steps − to strengthen the country through innovation − is on transforming Taiwan from an efficiency-driven economy to an innovation-driven one. The president stated that last year SRI International President and CEO Curtis R. Carlson suggested during a speech he gave in Taiwan that Taiwan should establish innovation awards to encourage innovation, and in response to this suggestion the Ministry of Economic Affairs last year began drafting plans to create the Presidential Innovation Awards.
President Ma pointed to the example of the Graham family, which has run The Washington Post for over 70 years. In recent days, however, Jeff Bezos, the founder of the online book store Amazon, shocked the world by purchasing the newspaper. The paper's associate editor Bob Woodward, who was instrumental in reporting on the Watergate incident, commented that with the change in times and new trends, even the most hallowed of newspapers will see their future based on the Internet. The president said this shows that innovation can spark revolutionary changes.
President Ma stated that the Presidential Innovation Awards will encourage enterprises, schools, and the cultural community to pursue innovation. However, he pointed out, innovation in the public sector is especially important. He explained that, in the first year after he took office in 2008, Taiwan was rocked by the financial tsunami that was sweeping the world. In response, Taiwan's Central Bank cut interest rates seven times and the Executive Yuan instituted a policy of providing deposit insurance coverage for all bank deposits in order to bolster confidence in the banking system. In addition, he said, on the eve of the Lunar New Year in 2009, the government also issued consumption vouchers to the public to spark a recovery in consumer spending, which created the maximum benefit for the economy and society. The president opined that while the distribution of consumption vouchers was not unprecedented, it was an extremely timely and innovative measure. Even former Harvard University President and former US Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers during a visit to Taiwan in May 2012 recognized the positive economic impact of the consumption vouchers, President Ma said.
The president further stated that the idea of "free economic pilot zones (FEPZs)" floated by the Executive Yuan, which combine export processing zones with free trade zones, isn't entirely new, either. However, the concept being adopted by the government now, featuring "shop in front, factory at the rear," "inside national territory but outside customs territory," and "virtual," is different than in the past, he said. The president explained that these FEPZs will be test areas for deregulation. He expressed confidence that after these FEPZs commence operation they will become a practical example of government-inspired innovation.
President Ma also mentioned that he visited New York City in March 2006 when he served as mayor of Taipei City. On that visit, he met with then New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, who was staging a successful crackdown on crime in the city. Mayor Giuliani promoted the "broken windows theory," which advocated the immediate investigation and handling of even the smallest of crimes. In addition, officials would on a weekly basis examine and follow any increase in crime in order to resolve the problem at the source, he said. This initiative ultimately made New York City the safest city in the United States among cities with a population of over one million, the president stated. Thus, President Ma noted, the city under Mayor Giuliani's leadership was awarded the 1996 Innovations in Government Award from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. The president said this made him realize that public sector innovation can do much to improve people's lives.
Lastly, President Ma stated that it might be worth considering expansion of the Presidential Innovation Awards to encourage public sector innovation as a means of spurring outstanding joint innovation efforts by industry, government, academia, and the research community. He also expressed hope that the creation of these awards will help to turn innovation into a nationwide movement, with the commercialization of innovation, invention, and design to aid in enhancing public wellbeing.
The members of the Presidential Innovation Awards Committee include Minister of Economic Affairs Chia-juch Chang (張家祝), Deputy Secretary-General to the President Hsiung Kuang-hua (熊光華), Executive Yuan Deputy Secretary-General Chien Tai-lang (簡太郎), Academia Sinica Vice President Chien-Jen Chen (陳建仁), Minister of Education Chiang Wei-ling (蔣偉寧), Minister of Culture Lung Ying-tai (龍應台), National Science Council Minister Cyrus C. Y. Chu (朱敬一), Minister of the Research, Development and Evaluation Commission Yu-Hsieh Sung (宋餘俠), Commonwealth Publishing Group Founder and Chairman Charles H. C. Kao (高希均), Chinese National Association of Industry and Commerce Chairman Kenneth C. M. Lo (駱錦明), National Taiwan University Distinguished Professor Si-Chen Lee (李嗣涔), National Chengchi University President Se Hwa Wu (吳思華), National Chiao Tung University President Yan-Hwa Wu Lee (吳妍華), Institute for Information Industry Chairman Jin-Fu Chang (張進福), Industrial Technology Research Institute Chairman Ching-Yen Tsay (蔡清彥), and Commerce Development Research Institute Chairman Chung-Jen Hsu (徐重仁).
Also attending the press conference were Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) and Secretary-General to the President Timothy Chin-Tien Yang (楊進添).