Taiwan's economy currently faces global shifts and restructuring; this moment is an ideal opportunity for strengthening its competitiveness. The “Epoch-MIT CSAIL Industry and Research Cooperative Project” is MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab's plan for fostering industrial and academic cooperation that particularly fits Taiwan's industry, providing domestic enterprises with links to research and development at a world-wide level.

The Epoch-IT Project: Moving at the Pace of Worldwide Information Technology

In 1998, Epoch Foundation, the MIT Laboratory of Computer Science (MIT LCS), and the MIT Artificial Intelligence Lab (MIT AI Lab) jointly founded the “Epoch-IT Industry and Research Cooperative Project.” This new project opened-up direct access to both labs for members of Taiwan’s industry and allowed for productive visits focusing on research and development technology. Members have included Delta Electronics, Quanta Computers, Philips Taiwan, Acer Incorporated, Mercuries and Associates, Tung Ho Steel Enterprise Co., Ltd., Shin Kong Group, WIHARPER Group, Sunplus Technology Cp., Ltd., and over twenty other enterprises. The first phase of the “Epoch-IT Industry and Research Cooperative Project” lasted for three years, ending in 2001. During the initial period, in June of 2000, Delta Electronics and Acer Incorporated successfully joined the “Oxygen Project.” In conjunction with HP from the US, Nokia and Philips from Europe, and NTT from Japan, project members have already initiated the research to both support a new era of human-oriented technology and establish Taiwan as a base for the elite players in the information technology industry.

MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory

On July 1, 2003, the MIT Laboratory for Computer Science (MIT LCS), and the MIT Artificial Intelligence Lab (MIT AI Lab) formally merged to become the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab (MIT CSAIL).

The MIT Laboratory for Computer Science (LCS) has continually been at the forefront of computer technology. The hallmark of its research is a balance between advanced technology and human utility. LCS members have been instrumental in the invention of the ARPANET, the Internet, Ethernet, the World Wide Web, time-shared computers, RSA encryption, and dozens of other technological breakthroughs. Furthermore, there are currently over 40 entrepreneurial ventures established by LCS members, including 3Com Corporation, Cirrus Logic, Inc., Lotus Development Corporation, Open Market, Inc., and RSA Data Security, Inc., and a number of others, with total capital flows exceeding one trillion US dollars. In 1996, MIT/LCS and the AI Lab participated in the public bidding for the US Department of Defense's “Next Generation Computers,” and their subsequent involvement became the predecessor for the current “Oxygen Project.”

In the past few years, significant applications have appeared from the MIT Artificial Intelligence Lab (AL Lab)'s work on robotics, vision, language, and circuit design technology. Most recently, the Lab has pioneered new methods for image guided surgery, wired the White House, made haptic interfaces a reality, produced new generations of micro displays, and changed the way that NASA explores space. Among the companies established by AI Lab members, the one presently attracting the most attention is i-Robot, with products ranging home electronic devices to weapons used for national defense.

http://www.csail.mit.edu

Join the Epoch - Information Technology Project (CSAIL)

Symposium

Epoch conducts symposiums in Taiwan and at MIT.

Update Visits

By visiting MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab (MIT CSAIL). on a regular basis, EPOCH-IT can members gain first-hand experience of the latest information technology R&D and discuss the potential of such results with important laboratory members in person. At the same time, laboratory researchers can regularly visit EPOCH-IT members for technology exchanges via project consultations and symposiums.

Visiting Scientist/Engineer Programs

By mutual agreement, EPOCH-IT company members may station their researchers at CSAIL to promote both better interactions with their CSAIL counterparts and cooperative experience. This relationship allows EPOCH-IT members to transfer their know-how, innovations, and technologies from CSAIL to their own companies through their researchers’ hands-on experience of CSAIL R&D projects and commercial-application experiments crucial to their operations.

Consultation on Technology and Policy Issues

CSAIL provides consultations on technology and policy issues at EPOCH-IT members’ request.

Research Programs

EPOCH-IT members may have priority for participation in critical research programs at CSAIL. In order to take part, EPOCH-IT members need to first discuss individual programs’ specific needs with CSAIL.

Membership Fee

The annual fee for an EPOCH-IT member company is US$50,000.