Prague, September 24, 2024 - A meeting of representatives of the parties involved in the newly established Supply Chain Resilience Center (SCRC) project took place at the Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University. The SCRC project, a collaboration between Charles University and National Chengchi University (NCCU) in Taiwan, aims to explore the resilience of supply chains, particularly in the semiconductor sector.

The meeting was opened by the project director David Emler from the Faculty of Social Sciences (FSV UK), who welcomed everyone present and stressed the importance of cooperation between the faculties and the Taiwanese partner. Dr. Emler then presented the basic structure of the SCRC project, including administrative and organizational aspects such as the project logo, website, planned promotional activities, and the people involved in project administration. Hsienming Lien, Director of Taiwan Study Center and Associate Dean, International College of Innovation, also contributed his welcome.

The main focus of the meeting was on global value chains and global production networks (GVCs and GPNs), which are key to supply chain resilience in the semiconductor industry. This topic was addressed by Prof. Jiří Blažek and Doc. Viktor Květoň from the Faculty of Science, who focus their research on the analysis of production networks in various industries.

After a short break, the main point of the afternoon programme was the introduction of the semiconductor industry and its strategic importance for the global and local economy. In his lecture, Prof. Blažek emphasized that semiconductors are one of the key segments on which the development of industry depends not only in Europe but also on a global scale. The Taiwanese side emphasizes the stability of supply chains and their resilience to external influences, which is also one of the main points of the SCRC project.

The meeting concluded with a discussion in which the participants focused on possible future research directions within the SCRC. The issue of sustainability of chip manufacturing and its impact on the environment was also discussed, as well as the availability of a highly skilled workforce, which is crucial for the sector.

The SCRC project is thus becoming an important platform for scientific research and practical applications that can contribute to the development of the semiconductor industry in the Czech Republic and throughout Central Europe. Charles University and its partners are committed to researching and supporting the resilience of supply chains and thus contributing to the stability of the industry in this key sector.

The project website can be found here.

Contact for media:

Tereza Wildová, PR coordinator

media@scrc.cuni.cz