BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, 20TH MAY 2026 – Two Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD) PhD candidates put UBD on the map as they emerged champions from the inaugural ‘AI Ready ASEAN Youth Challenge’ Grand Final held in Singapore, strengthening its regional presence in digital innovation and research excellence.
Representing Brunei Darussalam, Dr Hein Minn Tun and Ummi Suhaimei, both PhD candidates in Digital Public Health from UBD’s Centre for Lifelong Learning (C3L), secured first place through their innovative project titled ‘SAHABAT-CARE: AI-Powered Dementia Care Tools to Support Caregivers of Elderly Across the Care Continuum’. Competing under the team name ΣHAI, the duo received the award from His Excellency Tharman Shanmugaratnam, President, Republic of Singapore, during the prestigious AsiaTech X Singapore Summit (ATxSummit) 2026 Gala Dinner at Gardens by the Bay.
The achievement marks a significant milestone for UBD, highlighting the university’s growing contribution towards artificial intelligence, digital public health research and innovation-driven solutions that address real-world societal challenges within Brunei Darussalam and the wider ASEAN region.
Their award-winning project, SAHABAT-CARE, is an AI-powered dementia care platform designed to provide continuous and personalised support for caregivers and elderly individuals living with dementia. The platform integrates multimodal artificial intelligence technologies, including speech and language analysis, video-based behavioural observation, conversational AI and predictive analytics to assist in the early detection of cognitive decline while improving caregiving support and healthcare accessibility.
Speaking on the inspiration behind the project, Dr Hein Minn Tun shared that the idea stemmed from both team members’ academic and personal interests within digital public health and neuroscience. “Since we work together for our PhD project, we decided to form a team and brainstorm ideas together. Dementia aligned with both of our interests, and we wanted to create something more novel and comprehensive. We combined our respective strengths, including my background in medicine, leadership and AI management, together with Ummi’s expertise in neuroscience, local knowledge and personal experience,” he said.
The project addresses the growing dementia burden in Southeast Asia, particularly in Brunei Darussalam where the ageing population is projected to increase significantly over the coming decades. Through bilingual and culturally adaptive AI tools, SAHABAT-CARE aims to help bridge existing gaps in dementia screening, caregiver education and support systems.
Developed with scalability and inclusivity in mind, the platform is envisioned as a mobile and web-based application available in both Malay and English, with future adaptability for broader ASEAN communities. The initiative also places strong emphasis on ethical AI implementation, stakeholder collaboration and community outreach involving healthcare institutions, researchers and local organisations.
The achievement also reflects UBD’s growing role in supporting Brunei Darussalam’s broader aspirations towards digital transformation, innovation and the responsible use of emerging technologies under Wawasan Brunei 2035. Through initiatives such as SAHABAT-CARE, UBD continues to demonstrate how human-centred and ethically grounded AI solutions can contribute towards improving healthcare accessibility, community wellbeing and regional collaboration.