Taiwan Firmware Academy

Firmware generally refers to chip programs and their development kits, while software broadly encompasses various application suites of computers. Firmware emphasizes real-time computation and communication, achieving the response speed of hardware while retaining the digital processing capabilities of software, thus emerging as a new technological domain.

Because components such as servos, drives, sensors, and passive elements all require embedded chips, the computational cores and human-machine interfaces of instruments and complete systems can also be implemented with chips to enhance intelligence and reduce hardware costs. Firmware technology has thus become indispensable, especially in today's context. Therefore, the Taiwan Firmware Academy was established to strengthen the connection between industry and academia, integrate practical and theoretical aspects of firmware, cultivate talent, and upgrade the industry.

Reasons and Purpose of Establishment

1. Software and hardware have long been monopolized by Western countries and Japan, forcing Taiwan's industry to focus on low-margin OEM manufacturing for U.S. consumer products. Firmware, however, provides a fertile ground for creative talent, where any innovative idea can be quickly realized through programming, leading to technological advancements and industrial transformation. For instance, firmware companies can freely design high-value-added servo motors and sensors, or provide customized development kits tailored to the needs of industrial clients.

2. For developing countries with a shorter industrial history, the firmware industry opens a fast-track pathway, enabling them to provide customized services for the critical component industries of developed countries. At the same time, it allows them to break free from the constraints of patents and communication protocols, transforming know-how into tangible resources with greater freedom.

3. Taiwan boasts world-class mathematics and science education, but its industrial resources are limited. Allocating talent to firmware development, with a focus on real-time algorithms, represents the optimal human resource strategy.

4. Firmware customization enables the creation of measurement instruments and methods that are unavailable in the market, thereby accelerating scientific discoveries—this forms the foundation of technology.

News

📌Chairperson: Lany Hong

📌Executive Director: Boe-Shong Hong

📌Honorary Chairperson: Vigor Yang