Citizen Participation at National Science and Technology Conference: A Case of Geriatric Welfare

According to the National Development Council's estimates, Taiwan will become a super-aged society in 2025, and geriatric welfare will become an essential issue. In December 2024, the Executive Yuan held the 12th National Science and Technology Conference (12th NSTC), and widely discussed geriatric welfare. The conference’s conclusions were compiled into the National Science and Technology Development Plan (2025-2028). According to the Fundamental Science and Technology Act, the NSTC is held every four years to discuss science and technology development over the next four years and to provide guidance for government ministries’ science and technology policies. However, previous conferences lacked research methods for setting topics, and it was impossible to understand the context of their formation. This paper aims to explore how to set topics at the NSTC. The case study of geriatric welfare will be used to understand the research methods for setting topics. Since geriatric welfare is closely tied to citizens’ lives, this article employs the theory of citizen participation as a research framework to explore the following research questions. Question 1: What research methods are used in setting topics related to geriatric welfare? Question 2: How do the research methods and the theory of citizen participation impact the output of older people’s welfare policies? This paper will use the theory of citizen participation and research methods to explore people’s activities at all stages. These research findings can answer two questions. From initial findings, literature analysis, expert interviews, and focus group discussions (FGDs), we can identify the topics at NSTC. For example, we can use government documents such as the White Paper on Science and Technology (2023-2026) and the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s Policy Address, along with other related papers, to draft a framework and consult experts on elderly welfare. Secondly, we can use citizen participation to revise the topics or contents, as many social welfare non-governmental organizations (NGOs) were involved in setting the topics rather than others. This paper sought to combine theories of citizen participation, literature analysis, expert interviews, and FGD to develop a new analytical framework. This paper’s contribution could play a critical role in a new analytical framework to study the policy of geriatric welfare at NSTC. It could improve research on science and technology policy.