The high-tech milieu and innovation-oriented development

The Hsinchu Science-based Industrial Park (HSIP) has developed in the Hsinchu area for the two decades since 1981. It has provided an environment of innovation for stimulating the development of high-tech industries through the interaction of knowledge-based institutions and universities. This high-tech sector requires intensive R&D, continuous technology transfer and learning, development of a high-tech infrastructure, new generations of high-tech specialists, as well as government supports in order to integrate and promote the local industrial network. This paper investigates the form of the high-tech milieu surrounding the HSIP, and the effect of innovation on the development of firms based in the HSIP. The findings report the key successes of the HSIP and the formation of a high-tech environment and innovation network in the Hsinchu area. Finally, building on the results of further investigation and comments from interviewees, we propose a strategy of innovation-oriented development to further pursue development within the HSIP in response to the increasingly intense global competition.