2025 Smart Innovation Awards: Winners of the Computer Science and Engineering Department Students
Organizer: Ministry of Economic Affairs
Competition title: Generative AI technology to generate an open source fall video dataset with de-personalized privacy information
Winner: AI Student Group Excellent Work
Award-winning students: Li Zijie, Zheng Yuyan, Gao Yien, Li Youqian, Lan Wenxi (Department of Medicine)
Supervisor: Professor Zhao Yiping
In order to encourage more enterprises and students to invest in the research and development of AI application technologies and to cultivate more AI professionals, the Ministry of Economic Affairs organized the first "Smart Innovation Awards" and held the finals and award ceremony at the World Trade Center Pavilion 1 today (3). A total of 1,253 teams from 36 countries participated in this year's competition. In the final, 93 awards were selected from 233 teams, and the eight gold medals were won by "Netpower Smart Technology Co., Ltd.", "Yuli Microelectronics Co., Ltd.", "Youyou Data Application Co., Ltd.", "Zhensheng Semiconductor Co., Ltd.", "National Central University", "National Taiwan University" and teams from the United Kingdom and the Philippines.
At the award ceremony, Political Secretary Ho Chin-chang of the Ministry of Economic Affairs pointed out that AI is rapidly changing the global industrial structure. From manufacturing, medical care, finance to various services in daily life, there is almost no field that is not affected. The "Smart Innovation Awards" uses a competition platform to more closely integrate talent cultivation, technology application and industry needs. In the face of high expectations from all walks of life for AI technology, we hope to encourage more innovative ideas to truly meet industry needs through a practice-oriented approach. This will allow Taiwan to continuously cultivate new talents and produce new solutions in the process of developing AI. At the same time, every entry in this competition is the result of combining AI technology with real needs and creative practice, demonstrating through practical actions the infinite possibilities of transforming creativity into solutions. In the future, the Ministry of Economic Affairs will continue to connect with the industry through policy resources to help more innovative results be implemented and realize local value.
Kuo Zhaozhong, director of the Department of Industrial Technology of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, said that the first Smart Awards not only attracted enthusiastic registration from domestic companies and schools, but also attracted 353 international teams from 36 countries including India, the Philippines, the United States, and the United Kingdom to participate, proving that this competition is not only a stage for Taiwan, but also an important platform for global AI creative exchange. In order to help the industry quickly strengthen the power of AI talents and applications, the Ministry of Economic Affairs will not only organize the Smart Innovation Awards, but will also combine the pilot production line capabilities of schools and corporate research institutions to assist companies in design, new product development and prototyping. It will also work with relevant units including the China Enterprise Agency and the Economic Development Agency to assist the industry in AI transformation and cultivate professional AI practitioners.
Chiu Chiu-hui, Director of the Industrial Development Agency and the instigator of this competition, said that a recent survey report by the Artificial Intelligence Technology Foundation pointed out that in Taiwan's development of AI, "lack of relevant technical talent" is the top challenge for companies. The global artificial intelligence index also shows that although Taiwan's infrastructure ranks fourth, talent (38th), research (27th) and commercialization (39th) are in urgent need of improvement. The purpose of organizing the Smart Innovation Awards is to use the competition to quickly strengthen the implementation of AI applications and cultivate related talents. The Smart Innovation Awards is the largest, highest-prize, and highest-level AI competition in China (with a winning rate of only 7.4%). We look forward to everyone’s joint efforts to spread AI to all industries and drive industrial innovation with AI.
The entries for the "Smart Innovation Awards" span the fields of information and communications technology (18.4%), manufacturing (16.2%), medical care (15.9%), wholesale and retail (10.2%), education (8.6%) and finance (7.8%). It not only represents the application of cutting-edge technology, but also demonstrates the potential for successful implementation of AI technology in various industries. For example, teams in the manufacturing field used AI to optimize document processing, which can improve operational efficiency and reduce errors. This technology can also be applied to other industries such as finance and healthcare. Teams in the smart healthcare field demonstrated the application of AI in disease prediction and diagnosis. These innovative solutions show the broad market potential of Taiwan's AI technology. In addition to technology applications, the participation of more than 100 startups, small and medium-sized enterprises, and listed companies will further accelerate the introduction of AI technology in various industries in Taiwan. Whether in manufacturing, financial services, or smart healthcare and education, AI applications are upgrading and transforming Taiwan's industrial structure at an astonishing rate and bringing unprecedented development opportunities to companies.
In the future, the Ministry of Economic Affairs will continue to work together with industry, academia, and research, hoping that the annual "Smart Innovation Awards" will become an important platform for promoting the development of AI technology, talent cultivation, and innovative applications in the country, and continue to discover more potential new stars. Through the presentations and exchanges at the finals, an environment is created for the participating teams to stimulate creativity and exchange ideas, while also facilitating instant matching between companies and outstanding students and international talents. In addition, during the "COMPUTEX" exhibition in May each year, a matchmaking event will be held simultaneously, and it is expected that more than 20 domestic and foreign venture capital and buyers will be invited to participate, to promote in-depth exchanges and cooperation between participating teams and the industry, and further expand the commercialization opportunities of AI innovative applications. The Ministry of Economic Affairs said that it hopes to accelerate the emergence of innovative AI applications and cultivate AI talents across all industries through a series of activities, leading Taiwan towards the vision of an "artificial intelligence island."