Evaluating development strategies for Taiwan's iB3G industry: A fuzzy MCDM approach

Foreseeing an enormous demand for seamless communication and ubiquitous interconnectivity, Taiwan has launched a national-level Dual Network Program called integrated beyond the third generation (iB3G) to seize the opportunities posed by technological discontinuity. The iB3G initiative aims to leverage Taiwan's manufacturing strengths and brand Taiwan as a powerhouse in the creation of integrated cellular/WLAN technologies and services. This paper attempts to secure a consensus on the optimal development strategies and their effective implementation. Our analysis employs a fuzzy Multi-criteria Decision Making (FMCDM) framework with an empirical formula to examine its practicability and usefulness. Based on business, technical and environmental issues, strategies are proffered as follows: (1) shared-value chain and cross-industry collaboration; (2) attractive applications/rich content and service trials on networks; (3) collaborative R&D of multimode handsets and integrated network systems; (4) active participation in international standard activities to advance intellectual property; (5) proactive policy tools for business innovation, cultivation of talent and entrepreneurship; (6) supportive regulatory mechanism and sound broadband environment, and (7) promoting the iB3G vision worldwide and asserting leadership. Three clusters are extracted among the seven strategies by Fuzzy C-Means approach. Results show that the second strategy receives the highest score.