The award ceremony for the Presidential Innovation Award, the highest honor for innovation in Taiwan, was held on April 29 in the Presidential Auditorium. In its fifth edition, this year's award saw five winners: Junyi Academy Foundation; Water Resources Agency, MOEA; Mi-Ching Tsai, Chair Professor at National Cheng Kung University's Department of Mechanical Engineering; Miin Wu, Chairman of Macronix International Co., Ltd.; and Ming-Che Sung, firefighter at Fire Bureau of Changhua County. President Tsai Ing-wen personally presented the trophies and NT$2 million award to each award recipient.

[Group Category] The winner Water Resources Agency, Ministry of Economic Affairs is the second government agency to win the Presidential Innovation Award since its inception. Compared to private enterprises, government agencies often need to battle against more headwinds to promote innovation. It may be more difficult, but it can have more impact.

The Water Resources Agency has made it possible for water management, an age-old public service, to be continually injected with innovative thinking. They have leveraged technology to fully get hold of water situations through meticulous water management and big data. Engaging central and local governments to find, save, and transfer water in advance, coupled with innovations such as construction site water utilization, river water recovery, and mobile water purification equipment, they helped solve the problem of water shortage across industries despite unfavorable weather last year to extend Taiwan's otherwise insufficient water supply service for 4 months. It enabled the supply chains to run with minimum interruption, contributing greatly to the nation's economic development. They were subsequently invited to share their drought response experience with many other countries.