In an ever-changing, increasingly digitised world, forging a strong social compact to tackle intergenerational challenges has never been more crucial. The need to adapt by building technologies to ensure that no one is left behind has become imperative.
Now in its third year, Huawei’s Tech4City Competition challenges and empowers young talents to use artificial intelligence (AI) to build innovations for social good. The theme this year is ‘AI for Inclusivity’ and ‘AI for Sustainability’, in line with the Singapore government’s Smart Nation 2.0 vision.
“We must be a Smart Nation that we can trust, one where Singaporeans can go online with confidence; a Smart Nation that helps all of us grow, one where technology can help our people learn and excel in better ways; and a Smart Nation that brings us together, one that leaves no one behind,” says senior minister of state Tan Kiat How in his keynote speech at the Huawei’s Tech4City Competition finals on Oct 11.
Over 340 individuals from local and tertiary institutions and working adults submitted over 70 proposals. In the shortlisting phase, proposals were assessed based on the depth of research, innovativeness and feasibility, social value, use of technology, and logical implementation of each idea.
At the end, five teams were chosen to present their projects in front of a panel of judges at the Huawei Tech4City Competition finals. These five teams were also provided with mentors, technical training and $2,000 funding to create their prototype which were exhibited in the finals.
Winning projects
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Team Golden Gamers from National University of Singapore (NUS) won the grand prize of $20,000, with their project that aims to promote active ageing by providing seniors in Singapore with a comprehensive exercise system featuring personalised recommendations and progress tracking. They used Huawei Cloud to build PrimePlay, an AI-integrated exercise game arcade that tailors programmes to seniors’ physical abilities and health goals.
“Singapore is facing an ageing population. In particular, one of the most important things to look at in a person’s well being is their health. If our solution focuses on health and makes it fun with AI recommendations with a full comprehensive system, that might be our winning point,” says team leader Jonathon Leong.
The team says that it will continue to use three of Huawei’s solutions to scale up — including the Huawei HMS core, Huawei ModelArts and Huawei Cloud’s Relational Database Service (RDS) MySQL — as it plans to roll out its games in more senior homes.
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Meanwhile, team Node and team BinaCloud won first and second runner up prizes worth $12,000 and $8,000 respectively. Team Node’s project is an AI-powered personalised app designed to digitally empower the lives of seniors through curated augmented reality (AR) adventures that gamifies community engagement to enhance social bonding.
Team BinaCloud’s project uses AI to identify individuals with difficulty navigating public transport infrastructure, thereby improving accessibility, enhancing efficiency and promoting inclusivity. The group also won an additional cash prize of $3,000 for their project as the ‘Best Innovation in Mobility’ award sponsored by SBS Transit.
The remaining two teams — team Cikgang and team MyCoTech — won fourth and fifth prize each worth $3,000. Team Cikgang, with their AI-powered personalised learning platform won an additional cash prize of $2,500 of the ‘Swan & Maclaren Social Impact Award’, sponsored by the Swan & Maclaren Group.
“This year’s theme of inclusivity and sustainability resonates deeply with Swan & Maclaren which reflects our commitment to purposeful design and impactful solutions, and we are proud to support an initiative that empowers the next generation to drive positive change in society,” said Christopher Mo, vice president of corporate operations at Swan Maclaren Group.
Real-world deployment
Indeed, the breadth of innovations present in Huawei’s Tech4City Competition captures both creativity and social good. Past winners have also gone on to actualise their projects with the help of Huawei.
In 2022, the NUS start-up FingerDance clinched first place for their AI sign language solution prototype. After the competition, the team began their business through the Huawei Cloud Incubator, a joint programme with IMDA PIXEL.
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Later, with SBS Transit, they developed SiLViA, an AI-powered sign language virtual assistant that used advanced AI sign language large language models (LLM) to translate spoken or written languages into sign language. Leveraging AI, SiLViA enhanced accessibility for the deaf and hard of hearing, helping them to commute independently and confidently on public transport. SiLViA was rolled out on a trial basis at Chinatown Station.
“Huawei’s Tech4City initiative is a long-term strategy aimed at empowering local communities and inspiring young innovators to develop customised solutions for a wide range of real-world challenges to create a more inclusive and sustainable Singapore for all,” says Maxi Wang, CEO of Huawei International.
“Events like Huawei’s Tech4City Competition show us what is possible when students and professionals come together. These platforms provide the space for innovation and help shape Singapore’s digital future. None of these can happen without collaboration – Smart Nation 2.0 is a whole-of-nation effort, involving various sectors and stakeholders. The projects that will be presented today remind us of the power of bringing together diverse skills and perspectives, showing us how collaboration leads to meaningful, impactful solutions,” says Tan
