TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – President-elect Lai Ching-te (賴清德) hopes to revive plans for a defense technology innovation unit, reports said Saturday (May 4).

The Ministry of National Defense (MND) had already planned for such a body in 2017, but disagreements led to the project being shelved. The idea was inspired by the creation of the United States Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), per the Liberty Times.

After Lai is sworn in as president on May 20, the new body will emerge quite quickly, according to government sources. Discussions are still needed to decide on whether the new organization is based at the National Security Council (NSC) or inside the MND.

Speaking by videoconferencing at the Hill and Valley Forum Wednesday (May 1), Vice President-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) called on the U.S. to include Taiwan in its Department of Defense’s National Defense Industrial Strategy international collaboration mechanism. Taiwan is learning how to adapt newly developed technology for military use in the shortest time and the most efficient way possible, she said.

The original MND plan from 2017 had wanted to recruit 20 Ph.D. graduates with business management experience for a program with an annual budget of NT$3 billion (US$92.89 million). Opposition within the military and questions at the Legislative Yuan about the need for a new department led to the plan being dropped.