Page 475 - 2020新世代·新需求：臺灣教育發展的挑戰研討會

2
0
2 新世代·新需求：台灣教育發展的挑戰
0
研討會論文集

knowledge. The pursuit of knowledge-based economy is essentially related to the
well-educated and high skilled workforce. It is against such wider context that the

cutting-edge scientist, scholars/researchers, innovators, and entrepreneurs play the
key roles in forming knowledge basis.
The request for leading ‘brain’ also becomes intensified as a result of greater
internationalization or globalization. Along with the compression of time, distance

and regional interaction, talent with ‘global meritocracy’ becomes valuable asset
to policy-makers in raising national competitiveness and market niche (Brown &
Tannock, 2009). As Florida (2005) has put it,

The terms of competitive revolve around a central axis: a nation’s

ability to mobilize, attract, and retain human creative talent. Every key
dimension of international economic leadership, from manufacturing
excellence to scientific and technological advancement, will depend on
this ability (p.3).

The comparative advantage of nation state can be assured based on the
effective mobilization and utilization of talent within and beyond the national
borders. Countries in East Asia such as Japan, Singapore, Taiwan and Korea have

been regarded as the ‘winners’ of competitive commercial trade at the global stage.
Their success (except Japan) had depended upon the cheap and intensive labor,
mass production, or niche industry such as computers and information technology.

Their continuous growth, however, must rely on the frontier technology, innovative
service or knowledge-intensive sectors such as pharmacy, biotechnology or smart
manufacturing. However, these new industries have been dominant by traditional
developed countries equipped with existing advantages. These emerging economies
in East Asia are under huge pressure to fight for the competitive edge with other

474