Network perspective of science and technology policy research community in Taiwan

This study proposes a way of mapping Sci-Tech policy research community by quantitatively analyzing Sci-Tech policy research projects funded by Taiwan government in recent thirty years. Taiwans Sci-Tech policy rsearch networks composed by research community and knowledge distribution are quantitatively investigated by the use of network theory and Taiwans Sci-Tech policy research map is created to obtain the purpose of two-dimensional visualization. The 3-dimensional networks and two-dimensional knowledge maps on the basis of the Taiwans Sci-Tech policy research projects can be depicted differently by choosing different information as network actor, e.g. institute, project investigator or keyword, to reflect Sci-Tech policy research structures in micro, meso, and macro-levels, respectively. Sci-Tech policy research projects are retrieved from GRB (Government Research Bulletin) database which archives research projects sponsored by Taiwan government. A total of 143 projects are retrieved in this study, most of research projects (59%) belong to the field of management, economics, and other (social). It can be observed that more Sci-Tech policy research projects in the field of technology management have been funded, and also the coverage of fields has been increased since 2000. This indicates not only the emergence but also the interdisciplinary phenomenon of Sci-Tech policy research in Taiwan.