TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Former President of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) Wei Shyy (史維) returned to Taiwan on Wednesday (March 27) for a forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation (CAPRI), which discussed how Taiwan can nurture innovation and resilience in higher education.
Taiwan-born Shyy was president of HKUST between 2018 and 2022, and he is now a member of CAPRI’s international advisory board. At the National Taiwan University jointly hosted forum, he described his view of a university environment that embraces innovation and resilience.
Shyy described the concept of a university as a “living laboratory,” which he said promotes interdisciplinary work and social entrepreneurship among students. While at HKUST, Shyy said he would encourage students to conduct experiments on campus in pursuit of sustainable solutions to social problems.
One notable project involved a student using bread waste to brew beer, which later became a model for other students to build brands in Hong Kong.
Shyy’s presidency at HKUST is also noted for the university’s substantial reputation boost, rising from 34th in Asia to 8th in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings.
Despite the success, Shyy told Taiwan News that rankings alone are not the be-all and end-all for a university’s success and capacity for innovation. He said HKUST’s improvement was a “nice jump,” but exactly what the jump means is not clear.
Rankings involve “certain kinds of ‘objective metrics,’ the number of publications, citations, and so forth, but these are very nominal,” he said. “Then there’s a very large part of the (ranking’s) weight that is derived from reputation, and that is very subjective,” Shyy said.
Shyy said that university rankings undoubtedly help define a university’s reputation, though he hoped assessments of a university’s worth would go further than rankings. “By having that question repeatedly raised, we also reduce the sense of diversity, because universities are not supposed to be the same," he said.
Shyy also said that vocational training is very important, though it is often looked down upon relative to universities. “Vocational schools have produced so many contributing citizens in many important ways,” he said.
He also recommended that Taiwan nurture talents in a wider range of industries to increase innovation. “Taiwan has so many coffee shops, and many of these were started by young people because they want to call their own shots. I think that can be somewhat more cultivated,” Shyy said.
Shyy recalled seeing customers line up for coffee brands in Taiwan that sold for more than NT$1,000 (about US$31) per cup, which he described as “mind-boggling.” He said this is an example where paying attention to brand building and providing more support mechanisms for such ideas would allow businesses to “scale up” and find success.
