The Industrial Technology Research Institute (Chinese: 工業技術研究院; Pinyin: Gōngyè jìshù yán jiù yuàn) was created out of a merger of state research institutes in 1973. Its establishment was part of a larger effort by the ROC to alleviate its overreliance on foreign technologies through the development of domestic R&D capabilities, and of a more general effort to increase the quality of human resources.
They began research in semiconductor technology in 1976, which has proven to be an enormously successful venture of its. In 1979, it established United Microelectronics, which has become a leading manufacturer of integrated circuits. In 1987, they spun off Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, which is among the most valuable companies in the world, singlehandedly having manufactured over half of the world's computer chips in 2014.1
