The trip started well with a beautiful rainbow. Thank you Taiwan!With the MakerBay team, we have been invited to Taoyuan City to converse with the city officials about innovation in Taiwan. Because we are here and interested to learn about the maker movement in Taiwan, with the very kind help of Luke Lee of the School of Life Taipei and TEDxDa’an Park from the TEDx network, we have been introduced to some really cool communities. Here are some excerpts from our trip with Chicky and Kamakshi.
GUANGHUA DIGITAL PLAZA
View fullsizeDescription: English: Guanghua Digital New Plaza, a.k.a Taipei IT Industry Building. The new building of Guanghua Bazzar in Taipei, Taiwan. | Date7 July 2008 | Author, user:ellery
Guanghua Digital Plaza is a famous market for makers to find almost any electronic and mechanical parts for their projects. We enjoyed getting lost and checking out rare parts.
Watch a video of a visit inside.
No. 8號, Section 3, Civic Blvd, Zhongzheng District, Taipei City, 100
SYNTREND
View fullsizeDescription 中文（繁體）: 三創數位生活園區。Date 30 April 2016, 12:15:31, Source: Wikipedia Own work, Author Solomon203
Syntrend is the more modern version of Guanghua Digital Plaza, with many big brands and flashy shops. It’s less about parts and more about consumer products.
No. 2, Section 3, Civic Blvd, Zhongzheng District, Taipei City, 10058
FUTUREWARD CENTRAL
We were very lucky to be greeted by the COO Jonathan Liao and being able to sit for a good discussion. Futureward is a very large and friendly place for both local and foreigners. Originally focused on maker and carrying many tools, it’s pivoted and supporting the Taiwanese burgeoning startup community.
Address: B1, No. 343, Changchun Road, Songshan District, Taipei, China
FABLAB DYNAMIC
We really enjoyed meeting Regina Wang and Po Ting Lee from Fablab Dynamic. So many cool projects! Please check their projects and their many amazing videos.
103 1st Floor, No. 2, Lane 91, Section 2, Chengde Road, Datong District, Taipei City
- The commercial side: https://www.dynamiclab.team/
- The Social Innovation side: http://fablabdynamic.org/
METAL STREET
Just next to Fablab Dynamic there are several streets full of craftsmen. We visited the “metal street” on a quiet Saturday, but there is so much more to see! We’ll come back!
TAIPEI HACKERSPACE
We had a great time with the folks of the Taipei Hackerspace. As one of the oldest community in the city, they keep the hacker culture so real: inclusive, low cost, member run, transparent. We love it.
4F, No. 26, Lane 133, Taiyuan Rd., Taipei 103 Taiwan
Of course, this is just a day of walking around and we’re not trying to be exhaustive here. But it was a great day :) Thank you all for being so welcoming! We really enjoyed our time here.