Thank you.

Certainly hope to, as a member of the global community focusing on promoting not only the SDGs but also the topics that we talked about today, I look forward to working with you and hopefully supporting you to some extent as well.

To general awareness as well. Totally agree. Thank you so much. I really appreciate you sharing your insights, your thoughts on this. It sounds like you’re doing some amazing work on all of these topics as well. It sounds like also, as it would be for anybody, you have your ...

I completely agree with that. It seems like, again, almost, I was mentioning with the conversation with the folks at Greenpeace, it all comes back to education.

Expanding even beyond plastic bags, everything from consumer goods, to inputs or outputs, manufacturing, whatever it may be at that point.

Awesome. Perfect. Extended producer responsibility, EPR. Taiwan has a strong focus on this from what I’ve researched. Focusing on an example of plastics and the plastic bottles, to name one of the many categories in EPR. From what you were just saying, do you think that EPR with innovations and ...

Amazing. May I ask one last question here?

Interesting. Last question for you, too. What haven’t we asked you today that you think is important for us to know?

The 大林蒲, exactly. Do you have any general thoughts about those? Do you think those are sustainable? Do you think it’s a good path going forward to focus on establishing some maybe small villages or small pockets to test this out? Do you think it should be more dispersed? I’m ...

Would you say within these five examples or focuses here as well, I know that, for example, TaiSugar is eco village, eco based and then the focus on Shih in creating a circular economy district there.

To limit myself, I know I’ll be short on time a little bit, too. I want to be conscious and respectful of your time. Two last questions for you. Energy. Energy is needed to drive a lot of these things. I’m curious with there being maybe some issues over the ...

CK.

Are you going to be at their demo day next month as well? That’s on the 20th.

It sounds like some of the stuff that D4SG did for social innovation.

Going with the example that we were talking about earlier with Uber. With Uber being a company focused on technology innovation but facing the political issues that’s been happening over the past couple of years here, what are the challenges that are face innovation in Taiwan today?

Again, where great minds think alike, the next question was going to be why Taiwan? You’ve kind of answered that here. To play almost a devil’s advocate, to ask about the challenges facing Taiwan.

What would you say, from everything that you’ve seen, that Taiwan has most potential to export to the rest of the world, whether it be a social innovation or a technical innovation?

What would you say are some specific examples of this in action in Taiwan?

I’m curious, what role do you see education playing? I’m curious as specifically digital issues going forward.

I’ll underpin that question with saying the conversation I had with Greenpeace, basically we had come to the joint conclusion that why Taiwan is the leader in environmental protection, innovation, all that across all of Asia and the leader in the world has a lot to do with Taiwan’s awakening ...

Maybe, if you could, elaborate a little bit further on, specifically, education. What do you view, within Taiwan, what is changing? What has changed over the generations, and what do you think needs to change further?

You jumped the gun there a little bit on my next question, which was about education, because, yes, I agree, manufacturing is focusing on maybe 2 of the 17 of these SDGs.

Holistic approach?

Recycling.

You’re five times two?

I’m curious, how do you view this system or this structure being able to be utilized to better promote the design of technologic products, but also manufactured products, as well?

To these goals, exactly. A central part of, as I view it, the circular economy, maybe the basis of it all, is design how do we design our products better to use less resources, but also to better use the resources that are already in use now.

I’m very impressed. A ton of information there, especially with digging into these websites that you mentioned, and the TESAS platform, as well. I’m curious, across all of these the theme seems to be, yes, innovation, but also open source, data sharing, data integrity, and transparency as it relates to...

Amazing. I feel like I need to give a standing ovation.

Is there an environment one, overarching, or is it mixed in with...?

I like that it’s open to everyone.

For the regulatory co creation, is it a domestic Taiwan program? Who can apply to be in that program? Could it be anybody, or only Taiwanese people?

If I can ask a question on this.

I know it’s a broad question there, but I feel like I’m asking the right person.

Exactly. I’m hoping that, with this conversation, you can give me...I have a variety of questions. Just to start it off, kind of a broad question, but I’m hoping you could give me a holistic picture of, understanding of digital innovation here in Taiwan. What do you think are the ...

Take the example from your shirt and from your card and everything, to meet these Sustainable Development Goals requires not just one country or one small community...

Those two goals, and then also to figure out ways that the US can better collaborate, whether it be from the government perspective, but also from a business perspective and NGOs’ perspectives with Taiwan on promoting circular economy not only just here in Taiwan, not just in Asia, but internationally.

I’m excited for that. It seems like the OSM community is strong here in that sense.

At the Mozilla Center.

I’m meeting on them on the eighth.

Two is to promote those stories whether it be through things such as podcasts or through articles, blogs, but it all being free, open source information. I should mention a key for it being open source, too. My background, training wise and education, is also as a geospatial analyst, Open ...

During my time here, there’s a few goals that I have. One is to further study and understand what the digital and the physical innovations that Taiwan has as it relates to environmental issues and the circular economy.

Growing up there and understanding environmental issues, these things have always been central to me. Now, being here in Taiwan just pushing on to about three and a half weeks now, the conversations that I’ve had with great folks, what I’ve seen first hand, and from my research before and ...

That’s amazing. The more stuff I learn, the more I’m in awe, especially being from California myself and Southern California, where we pride ourselves on our social openness, our environmental consciousness. The International Earth Day started in Santa Barbara, my hometown.

Trying to promote circular economy initiatives from within the US government, but also with our partners and friends out here in Asia as well, chiefly Taiwan. I think Taiwan is, I would say, within the top two leaders of the world as it relates to circular economy.

Essentially, out here both to increase my Mandarin, but then also, equally as important, study and understand circular economy and environmental issues in Taiwan and in Greater Asia, with the ultimate goal of returning back to State after this year, picking up my job again there.

My name’s Grayson Shor, as I mentioned earlier. I’m originally from California, and I’ve until recently been living in Washington, D.C. the past few years and working for the State Department. I’m on hiatus right now from the State Department as this Boren fellow.

Just a short introduction about myself. First, I thank you for taking the time to meet with us today. I think it’s very cool, beyond the SDGs, but also have that you have office hours. That’s very forward thinking of you, so amazing.

[laughs]

Amazing.