Taiwan, Thailand ink deal to speed AI healthcare rollout

Taipei, Sept. 22 (CNA) Taiwan and Thailand on Monday signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to cooperate on validating artificial intelligence (AI) medical models, aiming to accelerate the commercialization of smart healthcare technologies, Taiwan's Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) said.

The MOU, signed by the MOHW's Department of Information Management and Thailand's Mahidol University, marks Taiwan's first external AI validation mechanism and a pioneering global step in medical AI certification.

Under the agreement, Mahidol University will recommend AI medical models for testing at selected Taiwanese hospitals, while Taiwanese hospitals will partner with Mahidol's affiliated hospitals to establish pilot validation sites in Thailand.

AI systems developed in either country can undergo paid testing at both locations, with terms jointly determined, according to the MOU.

The initiative will be supported by the MOHW's federated learning platform, which connects four clinical AI validation centers in Taiwan. By using federated learning, institutions can train models without exchanging raw patient data, reducing privacy risks while improving model reliability and stability, the MOHW said in a statement.

Federated learning is a way to train AI models without anyone having access to an individual's data, offering a way to unlock information and feed new AI applications.

Since 2024, the MOHW has funded four validation centers with databases that meet international standards and established a federated learning platform. These resources give developers and researchers access to larger, population-specific datasets, helping improve the quality and applicability of medical AI systems.

The MOHW said that the partnership addresses key validation challenges and advances Taiwan's goal of becoming a global innovation hub for smart healthcare.