The Social Innovation Research Center of NTU D-School is dedicated to advancing deep integration between interdisciplinary research and social practice. Building on years of experience in implementing University Social Responsibility (USR) initiatives, the Center has now taken on a mission of heightened national strategic significance.
In response to the Taiwanese government’s flagship Taiwan IC Innovation Program, the Center has officially served as the General Office of the Humanities-Driven Innovation Program for Taiwan’s IC Industry Research and Promotion (hereafter referred to as the Humanities × IC Program) since November 2024. As the central coordinating hub of this national-level initiative, the General Office acts as an interdisciplinary connector—integrating three Humanities × IC research projects and eight technology-art creative teams.
With a forward-looking perspective toward 2026, the program explores diverse future scenarios of human society, while identifying emerging application contexts and demand for high-performance semiconductor technologies.
During its first year, the General Office organized multiple interdisciplinary forums and salons, and collaborated with institutions including Taiwan Space Agency, LINE Taiwan, and Open HCI. Through a series of cross-disciplinary workshops, these partnerships continuously explored future-oriented scenarios at the intersection of technology, society, and culture.
The first year also saw the integration of preliminary research outcomes into a technology-art exhibition titled “2049: Mazu Pilgrimage to the Lunar Space Station.” Presented as an imaginative artistic narrative, the exhibition opened a public dialogue on semiconductors, advanced technologies, and their societal implications.
The exhibition’s first phase launched at Taiwan Contemporary Culture Lab (C-LAB), followed by a second phase hosted for one year at the Chiayi County Science Education Center Space Education Hall. Throughout the exhibition period, a series of public talks and lectures on humanities-driven IC innovation and technology art were also organized, further extending the conversation between science, culture, and society.
The exhibition “Mazu 2049: Lunar Orbit Project” opened at the Solar Exploration Center in Chiayi County on September 12. Attending the opening press conference were Chen Bing-yu, Deputy Minister of the National Science and Technology Council; Huang Chun-ru, Director General of the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at the NSTC; Cheng Tsung-sheng, Director of the Office of Space Education at the Taiwan Space Agency; Liu Pei-dong, Deputy Magistrate of Chiayi County; and several local Chiayi County representatives.
The Main Office created a dedicated webpage for the exhibition. In addition to exhibition-related information, the webpage also incorporates details for the Humanities research teams and the Tech-Art Teams' relevant projects. (
https://2049-mazu.space/ )
The Main Office has assembled an interdisciplinary expert panel to effectively incubate tech-art teams, completing site visits to 8 teams within the first year. The image shows one of the tech-art teams presenting a drone puppet theater performance during the visit.