Taiwan is moving to tighten the link between artificial intelligence and defense development, as the Institute for Information Industry (III) and the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST) team up to deepen cooperation on AI and key military technologies.
The agreement aims to push AI faster from research labs into working systems, while reinforcing local defense innovation.
It also fits into Taipei’s broader goal of strengthening its defenses through smarter, more flexible capabilities, with an emphasis on unmanned systems, improved training, and the use of AI to enhance operational efficiency.
The signing ceremony was attended by National Science and Technology Council Minister Wu Cheng-wen, Taiwan Drone-Tech Integration Consortium Chair Luis Ko, and Industrial Technology Research Institute Director Wu Tsung-tsong.
Expanding AI Applications
The Taiwan-Drone Tech Integration Consortium runs drone training programs for university students and uses a dedicated testing facility to evaluate unmanned systems under severe weather conditions.
III said its role is turning AI research into tools that actually work in the field, working with domestic companies to bring AI into real-world systems.
In parallel, III and the Administration for Digital Industries plan to set up a cybersecurity service center in Tainan to support demonstrations, training, and system testing.
NCSIST will contribute to the effort by connecting these AI tools to military trials and integration programs, making sure new tech meets operational needs.
NCSIST President Lee Shih-chiang highlighted that lessons from the war in Ukraine show just how important autonomous systems are, along with smooth software-hardware integration.
All of this comes as Taiwan steps up investment in defense tech, with part of the $949.5 billion New Taiwan dollar ($30.2 billion) defense budget earmarked to keep NCSIST’s research and development programs on track.
