It was 10:10 AM in Lisbon and 18:10 in Guangzhou, of March 5, when the official ceremony for the establishment of the China-Portugal Joint Laboratory on AI and Public Health Technologies started. Held at the Department of Computer Science and Engineering (DEI) of Instituto Superior Técnico, the event gathered Portuguese and Chinese representatives who celebrated the signing of the memorandum of understanding over a traditional cup of tea and a handshake.
The China-Portugal Joint Laboratory on AI and Public Health Technologies is a collaborative effort between INESC-ID, Guangzhou Laboratory (GL), Guangzhou Medical University (GMU), and Macau University of Science and Technology (MUST) (China). The Joint Laboratory aims to consolidate and leverage artificial intelligence technologies to improve public health management at a global scale. This includes capabilities for analysing, modelling, and responding to emerging public health events.