On January 29, 2026, CAPRI and the Yushan Fellow Program of Taiwan’s Ministry of Education hosted a roundtable featuring University of Arizona President Suresh Garimella on “Innovation and Talent Ecosystems in a Fragmenting Global Order.” The discussion brought together policymakers, university presidents, business leaders, think tank experts, and scholars from Taiwan and the US.
The roundtable convened against the backdrop of the recently finalized Taiwan–US trade deal, sparking discussion on how it can strengthen manufacturing leadership in both Taiwan and Arizona. Although a US tariff of 15% was seen as creating a more favorable investment environment, many participants noted that the greater challenges lie in securing bipartisan congressional support in Taiwan, addressing weak interagency coordination, and pursuing diversification and strategic partnerships.
As Taiwanese firms expand overseas, some participants raised concerns over the potential hollowing out of Taiwan’s workforce, whereas others argued that Taiwan’s demographic decline poses an even bigger challenge to its workforce sustainability and innovation capacity, emphasizing the urgent need for structural responses. Participants highlighted the growing demand for a broader range of skills to support not only technical operations but also the wider innovation system.
A central theme of the roundtable was the evolving nature of talent cultivation amid technological change and intensifying global competition. Higher education emerged as central to sustaining talent pipelines, particularly in preparing individuals to operate across disciplinary, cultural, and institutional boundaries. Participants presented diverse perspectives on how education systems may need to adapt to a shifting geopolitical landscape. Some emphasized the integration of technical expertise with broader social and cross-disciplinary perspectives, whereas others pointed to structural challenges such as workforce sustainability, global talent mobility, and the difficulty of cultivating globally competitive talent that is locally engaged.
The discussion also explored closer interaction among universities, industry, and sources of capital to support entrepreneurship and social innovation. Concrete collaboration mechanisms are already taking shape to support these ambitions. Participants highlighted the newly launched North America Talent and Innovation Hub, a partnership between National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University and the University of Arizona. This program aims to facilitate student exchanges and align best practices across regions. The initiative was cited as a practical step toward addressing challenges related to workforce development and cultural integration.
The conversation ultimately returned to resilience—both societal and energy resilience—as a unifying imperative in an era when AI and advanced manufacturing place growing demands on power systems. Participants underscored the need to reimagine innovation ecosystems to be more adaptive, inclusive, and interconnected across sectors.
