The Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI; ) is a technology research and development institution in Taiwan.
Founded in 1973, ITRI has contributed to moving Taiwan's industries from labor-intensive to innovation-driven. ITRI is headquartered in Hsinchu City, Taiwan, with branch offices in the U.S., Europe, and Japan. ITRI's open lab and incubator have fostered emerging industries and startups including UMC and TSMC.
In 1982, the new Materials Research Laboratories (MRL) was established under ITRI and Otto C.C. Lin was appointed as its Founding Director.
Recently, ITRI launched the 2030 Technology Strategy & Roadmap, which focuses on Intelligentization Enabling Technologies in the Smart Living, Quality Health, and Sustainable Environment spaces.
History
Since its founding in 1973 ITRI has been a significant driver of Taiwan's economy, especially its tech industry.
In 2002, ITRI partnered with Apex Medical and started the development of respiratory therapy product series. This was one of Apex Medical's first major collaboration.
In 2019 ITRI banned all smartphones and computers made by China's Huawei from their internal network for security reasons. China's Taiwan Affairs Office reacted negatively to the decision with their spokesperson saying that the decision “jeopardizes the mainland and Taiwan’s regular economic cooperation for political purposes."
Innovations and applications
Self driving cars
As of 2019 self driving cars designed by ITRI had accumulated more than 2,000 km of testing in the Changhua Coastal Industrial Park.
StarFab
StarFab is a tech accelerator founded by ITRI focusing on innovation in the fields of smart manufacturing, smart medical care, smart finance and smart agriculture. It is headquartered in Taipei with an office in the Tainan Science Park.
R&D Focus
Smart Living involves efforts to integrate technologies in information and communication technologies (ICT), cloud services, big data, etc., to develop smart services, logistics, and next-generation handheld devices. Quality Health focuses on the development of innovative therapeutic biologics, composite medical materials and instruments along with healthcare assistance technologies. Sustainable Environment centers on green energy, smart transportation, biomass, advanced green manufacturing, and disaster relief technologies. Intelligentization Enabling Technology includes AI, semiconductor, communications, cybersecurity, and cloud technologies to support technology breakthrough, and ensure data privacy and information safety.