Press Coverage

The Taiwan Unmanned Vehicle Alliance (UVAI) held the Taiwan Autonomous Unmanned Systems Strategy Forum on 1 September 2026, drawing nearly 400 representatives from industry, government and academia. Attendees included Deputy Legislative Speaker Chiang Chi-chen and representatives of the Industrial Development Administration, the Taichung City Association for Industrial and Commercial Development and the Market Intelligence & Consulting Institute (MIC), together with companies such as Dyaco International, AMiS and RobiChip. At the forum UVAI announced three strategies - chip autonomy, field validation, and industry-academia-research integration - aimed at building an autonomous, resilient and internationally competitive unmanned vehicle ecosystem on top of Taiwan's existing strengths in semiconductors, ICT, precision manufacturing and electronic components, and at moving toward a China-free supply chain. UVAI CEO Yu Fu-yang said competition in the industry has shifted from assembling complete aircraft toward owning the key modules and core technologies. High development costs and customisation barriers around AI chips have kept many Taiwanese firms out of the high-end autonomous systems market, so the alliance is working with AMiS on domestic high-performance AI chips, promoting common specifications and standardised chip templates. Such a platform can be reused across aerial drones, surface and underwater vessels, robots, robot dogs and autonomous vehicles, cutting duplicated development costs. He added that the industry is moving from component-level competition toward modularisation and systemisation. UVAI now connects more than 2,000 industry members and organises unmanned vehicle technologies into eight modules. Because 30-40% of key components are shared across drones, unmanned vessels, robots and autonomous vehicles, integrating them on a cross-vehicle platform can create economies of scale and lower costs. AMiS's AI chip is expected to launch before the end of the year and will be offered to alliance members at a competitive cost. The second strategy is field validation. UVAI announced a partnership with Dyaco International that turns its Taiwan plant into an unmanned vehicle demonstration site and links it with its production base in Arkansas, USA, forming a cross-border validation and manufacturing platform offering ODM, OEM, component integration, final assembly and testing. The aim is to help Taiwanese suppliers move up from component supply to system integration and complete aircraft manufacturing for the North American market. The chairperson of the Taiwan Sustainable Value Co-Creation Association said a complete industry ecosystem is the key to competitiveness, and that domestic AI chip development is an important foundation for Taiwan to move from manufacturing strength toward autonomous systems. Traditional industries are also transforming - Dyaco International, originally a fitness equipment maker, has begun working on unmanned vehicle applications. The third strategy is industry-academia-research integration. UVAI and the NCKU Research and Development Foundation established the UVAI Multi-Vehicle Research Center, which will connect academic institutions with the alliance's network of over 2,000 companies across R&D, testing, validation and industrial application. MIC Director Hung Chun-hui noted that unmanned systems have become a strategic industry worldwide, and that Taiwan has an industrial base at nearly every layer of the supply chain, from ICT and semiconductors to precision machinery and electronic components. Applications will extend beyond defence into disaster response, logistics, inspection and smart transport; the next stage of competition is not only "can it fly" but autonomous navigation, interference resistance, communication resilience and multi-vehicle coordination. RobiChip founder and CEO Kung Hui-yun said start-ups also have a role to play, focusing on the chips and platforms needed for drones, robots and robot dogs, and turning computing power into propulsion and endurance. Central Taiwan's smart machinery, precision machining and materials expertise gives small and medium-sized firms a way in. Prof. Tsou Chieh-tung of National Formosa University's Department of Aeronautical Engineering said unmanned systems span defence and civilian applications and require long-accumulated experience in flight, mechanical structures, electronic control, AI and system integration. The university has invested over NT$50 million in facilities including a large wind tunnel at the Chiayi innovation centre and has accumulated 18 related research projects. He argued Taiwan should not compete with China on mass production but should play to rapid development, customisation and high reliability - offshore wind turbine inspection, combining drones, unmanned vessels and autonomous inspection routes, being a good example. UVAI said Taiwan's next goal is no longer simply to maintain its component manufacturing advantage but to move from "manufacturing" to "autonomous systems", extending its semiconductor and manufacturing strengths into drones, unmanned vessels, robots, robot dogs and autonomous vehicles.

The Taiwanese Chambers of Commerce of North America (TCCNA) and the Taiwan Unmanned Vehicle Alliance (UVAI) jointly visited the Taichung City Association for Industrial and Commercial Development on 25 August 2026 to discuss international channels for Taiwan's unmanned vehicle industry, deeper engagement with the North American market, and stronger local industrial clusters. The three parties also announced an international forum and business matchmaking event at the Taichung International Convention and Exhibition Center on 1 October 2026. The delegation was led by Chen Chi-keng, chair of TCCNA's global business committee, with UVAI represented by director Lin Ying-hsuan; Chen Hsueh-sheng, secretary-general of the Taichung City Association for Industrial and Commercial Development, received the visit. Three directions for cooperation were agreed. First, using the North American Taiwanese business network and its regulatory advisers to help Taiwanese drone and component makers enter niche markets in US public procurement, critical infrastructure inspection and commercial applications. Second, advancing technology exchange and licensing between Taiwan and the US so Taiwanese firms can obtain North American information-security and communications compliance certification and align with international standards. Third, integrating the R&D and manufacturing strengths of the Central Taiwan Science Park and the Shuinan Smart City to deepen aerospace component and precision machinery supply chain integration, and to build a globally competitive China-free production hub. UVAI said Taiwan's unmanned vehicle industry has strong independent R&D capacity and technology that fully excludes Chinese supply chains; the priority now is faster international deployment and commercialisation. TCCNA's overseas trade network complements what Taiwanese makers lack in overseas channels, after-sales systems and regulatory compliance, while Taichung's complete and flexible precision manufacturing cluster supports rapid volume production and module integration. Chen Hsueh-sheng noted that Taichung has Taiwan's most complete precision machinery and aerospace ecosystem, and that the city government will continue to act as a platform - through industry guidance, testing-site support and international business linkage - to help local firms capture the restructuring of the global drone supply chain and the shift toward trusted supply chains. To make the linkage concrete, the three parties will co-host the UAV International Business Matchmaking Forum at the Taichung International Convention and Exhibition Center on 1 October 2026, bringing North American system integrators, distributors and prospective buyers to Taiwan for one-on-one talks with domestic aircraft and component manufacturers.