TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — National Sun Yat-sen University on Wednesday signed an agreement with the Taiwan Innovation Centre Ageing and the UK’s National Innovation Centre for Ageing to advance research on smart health and long-life innovation.

CNA reported Thursday that the university worked out the deal with TICA and the UK-based NICA. It said the three parties will team up on AI tools, healthy aging, and city design for seniors.

NSYSU President Li Chih-peng (李志鵬) said the cooperation allows Taiwan to build up a wider network with foreign partners. Li said schools and companies must work together to come up with new ideas as the population ages.

TICA Chair Shih Chen-jung (施振榮) said Taiwan has strong research power and must use it to face new aging-related problems. Shih said both schools and companies need to train more talent to keep research moving.

The university pointed out that NICA is under the auspices of the UK government and has long worked on AI for aging issues. It added that TICA holds exclusive rights from NICA to bring AI tools to Taiwan.

NSYSU said the partners plan to build Taiwan into a key Asian hub for healthy aging innovation. It said TICA aims to sign deals with 10 universities by late 2025, and NSYSU is one of the first.