At the time when countries around the world are ravaged by the epidemic, big data analytics technology is being widely used, including the application for social network analysis to retrieve messages to formulate effective epidemic prevention strategies. Such technology has also been well applied globally in relevant academic researches ever since, either by individual institution or through a cooperative network such as the cooperation between universities from Taiwan and India. National Chung Cheng University (CCU), and Sri Ramaswamy Memorial Institute of Science and Technology (SRMIST or SRM University), jointly initiated the Smart Pandemic Prevention System project in 2021 is the great example. And in order to continue and deepen the bilateral partnership between Taiwan and India, the "Taiwan-India Living Lab on Big Data Analytics" was officially established on 8th September 2022 in India. In the future, the Living Lab will dedicate to the smart healthcare bilateral research for a start, aiming to help India find solutions against the long-term shortage of medical resources.

On the 8th of September, the CCU Taiwan-India Joint Research Center on Artificial Intelligence and SRM University co-organized the unveiling ceremony of the "Taiwan-India Living Lab on Big Data Analytics" at SRM University. The event was personally presided over by Dr. C. Muthamizchelvan, Vice Chancellor of SRM University. Mr. Ben Wang, Representative of Taipei Economic and Cultural Centre in Chennai, Dr. Chin-Tsan Wang, Director of Science and Technology Division of Taipei Economic and Cultural Center in India, Dr. Pao-Ann Hsiung, Director of CCU Office of Information Technology, and Dr. Ren-Song Ko, Associate Professor of CCU Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering, also attended the ceremony physically.

According to the agreement, Taiwan-India Living Lab on Big Data Analytics will be jointly invested by CCU and SRM University with a base fund of 520,000 rupees and more resources coming into the lab later. The Living Lab first plans to focus on smart healthcare issues to build an international cooperation network. Vice Chancellor of SRM University Dr. C. Muthamizchelvan promised that his university will inject more power to support the lab. Dr. At the event, Pao-Ann Hsiung, Director of CCU Office of Information Technology, revealed that India currently has a population of more than 1.4 billion, and the country has long been facing the shortage of medical resources. Therefore, in the future, the Living Lab will integrate CCU’s strong research power on medical imaging, the data analytics, and the precision medicine to help India resolve the urgent healthcare crisis. In addition to practical applications, the two sides will also jointly publish papers over research findings and actively apply for new cross-country bilateral cooperation projects.

Ambassador Ger of Taipei Economic and Cultural Center in India stated that during the global outbreak of the Covid-19 epidemic, Taiwan has demonstrated the spirit of "Taiwan can help" and "Taiwan is helping" by donating masks and medical supplies to countries in need, and cooperated closely with countries in the world to fight the epidemic disease. The case of CCU Taiwan-India Joint Research Center on Artificial Intelligence and SRM University jointly developing the "Smart Pandemic Prevention System", which has actually been put into use in local hospitals in India in 2021, can be regarded as part of the action to fight the disease. At the ceremony, Ambassador Ger hoped that through the data technology-related research cooperation, the Taiwan-India Living Lab on Big Data Analytics can continue to bring stakeholders from industry, government, academia, and the private sector closer to come up with something great to people, becoming an important platform for Taiwan and India to build a resilient and sustainable partnership.

Dr. Chin-Tsan Wang, Director of Science and Technology Division of Taipei Economic and Cultural Center in India, who plays a key role in the international cooperation between Taiwan and India, pointed out that the Taiwan-India Smart Pandemic Prevention System built by CCU Taiwan-India Joint Research Center on Artificial Intelligence and SRM University has three major features including automatic thermal body temperature monitoring, facial recognition and real-time social contact analysis. The research team cooperated with doctors, nurses, teachers and students of SRM affiliated hospitals to establish the system which after has been successfully tested in SRM university and its affiliated hospitals, and applied in CCU and SRM university to ensure the health and safety of their faculty, staff and students on campus. At the moment, CCU and SRM have jointly published three academic papers on smart pandemic prevention, setting a great example in international academic cooperation. It is believed that the Taiwan-India Living Lab on Big Data Analytics will definitely help push the innovative cooperation model on smart healthcare between Taiwan and India forwards in the future.