ITRI (Industrial Technology Research Institute) and Advantech have established a joint venture to seize the opportunities of the circular economy together, taking advantage of Advantech's IoT (Internet of Things) technology and ITRI's water treatment technology, according to United Daily News on May 2. The technical teams of Advantech and ITRI are expected to be ready in 2019. By that time, they will be able to launch a full set of smart solutions for water treatment and have the ability to set up water treatment forecasting and early warning systems and a cloud-based management platform. Ultimately, they aim to construct a water treatment industry supply chain in Taiwan in line with the government's New Southbound Policy to help them extend reach to Southeast Asia and South Asia.