On July 22, the Research Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology (DSET) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Hawaii-based Pacific Forum at DSET’s Taipei office. The agreement aims to deepen cooperation through joint research and talent exchanges, further strengthening the network of think tank collaboration across the Indo-Pacific.
Founded in 1975 and headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii, Pacific Forum is a leading think tank dedicated to political, security, and economic issues in the Indo-Pacific. Among its flagship initiatives is the Honolulu Defense Forum, an annual gathering of government officials, current and former military leaders, and defense industry representatives that has become a key platform for strategic dialogue on Indo-Pacific security.
The MoU was signed by DSET President Wen-Ling Tu and Pacific Forum President and CEO David Santoro.
President Tu said she was pleased to see the partnership between the two institutions develop organically from the ground up. Even before the formal signing of the MoU, several DSET research articles had already been published on Pacific Forum’s platform. She thanked Pacific Forum for providing an internationally influential venue for policy exchange and expressed her hope that the agreement would pave the way for deeper collaboration in research, policy dialogue, and talent exchanges, enabling both institutions to address the challenges posed by emerging technologies and regional security together.
David Santoro noted that as the Indo-Pacific continues to grow in strategic importance, Hawaii has increasingly become a key hub connecting the United States with Asia for government agencies, businesses, and research organizations. Since its establishment, Pacific Forum has focused on Indo-Pacific affairs, and in recent years has expanded its research beyond traditional defense and security issues to include economic security, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and maritime governance. The organization has also actively promoted dialogue between Europe and Asia on issues such as economic security to help address increasingly interconnected global security challenges.
Santoro added that DSET’s long-standing focus on emerging technology policy in the context of geopolitics, combined with its rigorous data-driven research, has produced work of significant international relevance. He expressed his expectation that the two institutions will further deepen cooperation in policy research and international engagement.
The agreement marks another milestone in DSET’s efforts to expand its global network of research partnerships. It follows collaborations with the Institute for Future Strategy (IFS) at Seoul National University, the Special Competitive Studies Project (SCSP), Alliance4Europe, the Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology (RCAST) at the University of Tokyo, the Institute of Geoeconomics (IOG), the Korean Security Agency of Trade and Industry (KOSTI), and the Czech Think Tank the Association for International Affairs (AMO), further strengthening international collaboration on emerging technologies and geopolitics.
