Government-funded Community of Science and Technology Policy Research in Taiwan

Abstract

This study investigates the structure of Sci-Tech policy research community by quantitatively analyzing Sci-Tech policy research projects funded by the Taiwanese government in the recent 30 years. Taiwan’s Sci-Tech policy research networks, composed by research community and knowledge distribution systems, were quantitatively investigated using the network theory, and Taiwan’s Sci-Tech policy research map was created to achieve the purpose of two-dimensional visualization. The three-dimensional networks and two-dimensional knowledge maps on the basis of the Taiwan’s Sci-Tech policy research projects can be depicted differently by choosing different information as the network actors, e.g., institute, project investigator, or key word, to reflect Sci-Tech policy research structures in micro-, meso-, and macro-levels, respectively. Sci-Tech policy research projects were retrieved from GRB (Government Research Bulletin) database that archives research projects sponsored by the Taiwanese government. A total of 143 projects were retrieved in this study with most research projects (59%) belonging to the field of management, economics, and others (social sciences). It can be observed that more Sci-Tech policy research projects in the field of technology management have been funded, and the coverage of fields has been increased since 2000. This indicates not only the emergence but also the interdisciplinary phenomenon of Sci-Tech policy research in Taiwan.