Long-term care and technological innovation: the application and policy development of care robots in Taiwan

This paper analyses the application status and government policies relating to care robots in Taiwan. The paper argues that Taiwan has more numbers of monitoring/monitoring entertainment robots than assistive ones and, second, regarding government policy, thus far there is no definite care robot policy in the country. Concerning the three characteristics of care robots, three government departments are involved. However, regarding the formulation of policy, these three departments function independently. Consequently, this paper proposes a collaborative mechanism for intergovernmental integration and discuss the possible societal, economic, legal, and ethical dimensions of the application of care robots.