intelliFLEX signs MOU with Taiwan Smart Textiles Association
The intelliFLEX Innovation Alliance (Ottawa, Canada) and Taiwan Smart Textiles Association (TSTA) announced a memorandum of understanding for mutual cooperation.
The agreement states the organisations will cooperate in three main ways:
- To accumulate research and development experiences from related institutions to connect smart textile products supply chains;
- To support mutual visits between members in both parties and create an environment for the cooperation and development in wearable technology and smart textile products; and
- To encourage members in both parties to develop value-added projects to effectively accelerate the activities mentioned above.
“Taiwan is a leader in semiconductor manufacturing and in textile industries. Unlike in Canada, the smart textile industry has strong links with traditional textile manufacturers. Canadian companies looking for scaling up in areas where we lack manufacturing in Canada, could explore manufacturing with Taiwanese companies,” said intelliFLEX president and CEO Peter Kallai. “These companies are often active in low cost countries beyond Taiwan, creating a path for the cost reduction that’s so critical to volume production.
“If intelliFLEX members don’t find resources in Canada through intelliFLEX or its members, they now have a single contact at the association who can assess their needs and introduce them to qualified local resources in Taiwan,” added Kallai. “Our intelliWEAR Leadership Council requested that we pre-qualify suppliers in Asia, and this seemed like a good first step.”
The TSTA actively promotes the development of smart textiles as part of the Taiwanese government’s overall industrial development strategy, and for the purpose of achieving common prosperity. Its other mandates are to promote various enterprises within the smart textiles industry, develop product testing standards and industry norms, and to hold related seminars and academic or industry forums.
Caption: intelliFLEX and TSTA have decided to collaborate from now on (photo: intelliFLEX)