Taiwan-France and India teams win 2025 Presidential Hackathon international track

Taipei, Dec. 14 (CNA) Taiwan-France and Indian teams won the international track of the 2025 Presidential Hackathon at an awards ceremony held Sunday at the Presidential Office.

The winners were Beyond Hearing, a Taiwan-France collaboration, and CropNow from India. They were selected from among nine international finalists under the theme "Digital Innovation for Resilience and Sustainability."

Beyond Hearing presented smart glasses that use artificial intelligence (AI) and augmented reality (AR) to help people with hearing loss visually identify surrounding sounds.

CropNow won for developing an AI-driven Internet of Things (IoT) solution, the NEST device, which monitors soil conditions, microclimate changes and crop health to provide farmers with data-driven cultivation advice.

French Representative to Taiwan Franck Paris and India-Taipei Association Acting Chairperson Vishwanjali Murlidhar Gaikwad attended the ceremony alongside President Lai Ching-te (賴清德).

Gaikwad said the award highlighted shared values in digital governance and growing technology cooperation between India and Taiwan.

"The Presidential Hackathon reflects Taiwan's strong commitment to digital governance, to openness and citizen-centric innovation," she said. "Values that deeply resonate with India's own development trajectory and the governance's priorities."

Paris, speaking in Mandarin, said Taiwan, India and France share a vision of using innovation to benefit humanity and encouraged young innovators to consider France under Lai's Taiwan Global Pathfinders Initiative.

"Please don't hesitate," he added humorously. "Apply before December 31."

Lai congratulated the winners and praised local teams, saying the government would review hackathon proposals for possible use in governance.