(Bandar Seri Begawan, 21st) Two doctoral candidates from Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD) stood out in the inaugural "AI Ready ASEAN Youth Challenge" final held in Singapore, bringing honor to UBD and solidifying its regional standing in the fields of digital innovation and research excellence.
The representatives of UBD, Dr. Hein Minn Tun and Dr. Ummi Suhaimei, both doctoral candidates in Digital Public Health at the university’s Centre for Lifelong Learning (C3L), won first prize for their innovative project titled "SAHABAT-CARE: An AI-Driven Dementia Care Tool Providing Holistic Support for Elderly Caregivers."
They participated under the team name ΣHAI and received the award from the President of Singapore, Tharman Shanmugaratnam, at the ATxSummit 2026 Asia Tech X Singapore Summit banquet held at Gardens by the Bay.
This achievement marks a significant milestone in UBD’s development, highlighting the university’s growing contributions to artificial intelligence, digital public health research, and innovation-driven solutions aimed at addressing real social challenges in Brunei as well as the broader ASEAN region.
Their award-winning project, SAHABAT-CARE, is an AI-driven dementia care platform designed to provide continuous, personalized support for caregivers and elderly people living with dementia. The platform integrates multimodal AI technologies, including speech and language analysis, video-based behavioral observation, conversational AI, and predictive analytics, to help with the early detection of cognitive decline while improving access to care support and healthcare.
Speaking about the inspiration for the project, Dr. Hein Minn Tun stated that the idea originated from the team members' academic and personal interests in digital public health and neuroscience.
“Since we are pursuing our PhDs together, we decided to form a team and brainstorm. Dementia aligns with the interests of both of us, and we hoped to create something novel and comprehensive. We combined our respective strengths, including my background in medicine, leadership, and AI management capabilities, and Ummi’s expertise in neuroscience, local knowledge, and personal experience.”
The project aims to address the rising burden of dementia in Southeast Asia, especially in Brunei, where the ageing population is expected to grow significantly in the coming decades. The SAHABAT-CARE project seeks to bridge existing gaps in dementia screening, caregiver education, and support systems through a bilingual, culturally adaptive AI tool.
Scalability and inclusivity were fully considered in the platform’s development, envisioning a mobile and web-based application available in Malay and English versions, with the potential to expand to the broader ASEAN community in the future. The initiative also places a strong emphasis on ethical AI implementation, stakeholder collaboration, and community outreach, involving healthcare institutions, researchers, and local organizations.
This achievement also reflects UBD’s increasingly important role in supporting Brunei’s broader digital transformation, innovation, and the responsible adoption of emerging technologies within the framework of "Brunei Vision 2035". Through projects such as SAHABAT-CARE, UBD continues to demonstrate how people-centered and ethically-aligned AI solutions can promote healthcare accessibility, community well-being, and regional cooperation.
The representatives of UBD, Dr. Hein Minn Tun and Dr. Ummi Suhaimei, both doctoral candidates in Digital Public Health at the university’s Centre for Lifelong Learning (C3L), won first prize for their innovative project titled "SAHABAT-CARE: An AI-Driven Dementia Care Tool Providing Holistic Support for Elderly Caregivers."
This achievement marks a significant milestone in UBD’s development, highlighting the university’s growing contributions to artificial intelligence, digital public health research, and innovation-driven solutions aimed at addressing real social challenges in Brunei as well as the broader ASEAN region.
Their award-winning project, SAHABAT-CARE, is an AI-driven dementia care platform designed to provide continuous, personalized support for caregivers and elderly people living with dementia. The platform integrates multimodal AI technologies, including speech and language analysis, video-based behavioral observation, conversational AI, and predictive analytics, to help with the early detection of cognitive decline while improving access to care support and healthcare.
Speaking about the inspiration for the project, Dr. Hein Minn Tun stated that the idea originated from the team members' academic and personal interests in digital public health and neuroscience.
“Since we are pursuing our PhDs together, we decided to form a team and brainstorm. Dementia aligns with the interests of both of us, and we hoped to create something novel and comprehensive. We combined our respective strengths, including my background in medicine, leadership, and AI management capabilities, and Ummi’s expertise in neuroscience, local knowledge, and personal experience.”
The project aims to address the rising burden of dementia in Southeast Asia, especially in Brunei, where the ageing population is expected to grow significantly in the coming decades. The SAHABAT-CARE project seeks to bridge existing gaps in dementia screening, caregiver education, and support systems through a bilingual, culturally adaptive AI tool.
Scalability and inclusivity were fully considered in the platform’s development, envisioning a mobile and web-based application available in Malay and English versions, with the potential to expand to the broader ASEAN community in the future. The initiative also places a strong emphasis on ethical AI implementation, stakeholder collaboration, and community outreach, involving healthcare institutions, researchers, and local organizations.
This achievement also reflects UBD’s increasingly important role in supporting Brunei’s broader digital transformation, innovation, and the responsible adoption of emerging technologies within the framework of "Brunei Vision 2035". Through projects such as SAHABAT-CARE, UBD continues to demonstrate how people-centered and ethically-aligned AI solutions can promote healthcare accessibility, community well-being, and regional cooperation.