Keep Pace with International Standards: CIMCS and MPB Research Cooperation
Release Date 10 May 2021 Mandarin
To help the domestic shipping industry better understand the international maritime conventions, NKUST established a Center for International Maritime Convention Studies (CIMCS) at the end of 2020.
Reliable validated data and researches are essential to support both policy and decision-making in the industry and government offices. On May 10, NKUST President Yang, Ching-Yu and MPB Director-General Yeh, Hsieh-Lung signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for joint maritime research, data collection, and data analysis to support the development of maritime talent base.
“Very few universities offer a variety of maritime training, programs, and researches like NKUST.”
“Very few universities offer a variety of maritime training, programs, and researches like NKUST. These highly diverse and surprisingly rich academic resources are important to researchers and students who have to keep pace with the changing information environment in the maritime research field,” says President Yang.
Taiwan plays a decisive role in the global logistics and shipping industries. Based on the rapid change to international maritime transport, the government joined with universities to conduct research on international maritime laws and conventions, that attracted attention from the domestic shipping industry.
Not only government officials but members from non-governmental groups and associations attended the MOU signing ceremony held on May 10.
MPB Director-General Yeh, Hsieh-Lung commented on the ceremony that Maritime Port Bureau’s (MPB) determined to ensure domestic maritime standards reflect the international standards and the needs of the market.
MPB cooperated with NKUST CIMCS for its strong research capacity. The cooperation plan included establishing a national information hub, collecting critical data and information of international conventions, and providing advice to the government based on professional scientific research results.
Apart from the hub, MPB would work closely with NKUST to build a dynamic knowledge base for the shipping industry, train international maritime professionals, and strengthen the business communication between international ports.
At the MOU signing ceremony, government officials from AC, MPB, BOE, TIPC, and Kaohsiung City Government all attended the event. Also, members from the private sector and non-governmental associations including EMC, CR, NACS, and NSAA joined the event and expressed their expectation of this government-academia cooperation, expecting it would help develop a talent base for Taiwan’s shipping industry.
Within six months, NKUST CIMCS has been collected over 700,000 data items and 1.5m pages report with new issues about international maritime conventions. These data required proper studies and analysis to deliver evidence-based advice that can be count on by the government, industry, and universities.
Thus, CIMCS invited Professor Kawuu W. Lin of the Computer Science & Information Engineering Department, an expert in AI Smart Search, to enhance the center’s efficiency in data collecting, analysis, storage, and aggregation to speed up the data process.
With abundant interdisciplinary courses, NKUST can easily link scholars of different fields to develop special collaborations and synergies in maritime research.
Further Reading
Maritime Port Bureau, MOTC (MPB)
Taiwan International Ports Corporation, Ltd. (TIPC)
National Association of Chinese Shipowners (NACS)
National Shipping Agencies Association (NSAA)
Translated by Jess Lin Reviewed by Prof. Amy Tang