Taipei: Taiwan-France and Indian teams secured victories in the international track of the 2025 Presidential Hackathon during an awards ceremony held at the Presidential Office on Sunday. The winners, Beyond Hearing and CropNow, emerged from a pool of nine international finalists competing under the theme “Digital Innovation for Resilience and Sustainability.”
According to Focus Taiwan, Beyond Hearing, a collaborative effort between Taiwan and France, presented a groundbreaking innovation in the form of smart glasses. These glasses leverage artificial intelligence and augmented reality to assist individuals with hearing loss by visually identifying surrounding sounds. The Indian team, CropNow, was recognized for their AI-driven Internet of Things solution, the NEST device. It monitors soil conditions, microclimate changes, and crop health, providing farmers with crucial data-driven cultivation advice.
The event was attended by notable figures including French Representative to Taiwan Franck Paris and India-Taipei Association Acting Chairperson Vishwanjali Murlidhar Gaikwad, alongside President Lai Ching-te. Gaikwad emphasized that the award underscored shared values in digital governance and the expanding technological collaboration between India and Taiwan. “The Presidential Hackathon reflects Taiwan’s strong commitment to digital governance, to openness and citizen-centric innovation,” she stated. “Values that deeply resonate with India’s own development trajectory and the governance’s priorities.”
Paris, addressing the audience in Mandarin, remarked on the shared vision of Taiwan, India, and France in utilizing innovation for the benefit of humanity. He encouraged young innovators to consider opportunities in France under Lai’s Taiwan Global Pathfinders Initiative, humorously advising them to apply by December 31. President Lai extended his congratulations to the winners and commended local teams, noting that the government would assess hackathon proposals for potential implementation in governance.