Telcos eye agri-food, digital tech, AI in supercluster initiative

Canada’s two largest telcos are part of three groups vying to be chosen for the final phase of the federal government’s Innovation Superclusters Initiative, with BCE Inc. participating in an artificial intelligence-focused group in Montreal and Telus Corp. involved in two separate bids, a digital technology group in British Columbia and an agriculture-focused group based in Alberta. The federal government revealed nine short-listed groups earlier this month, and that list will eventually be whittled down to five contenders, which will receive part of a $950 million fund. To qualify for the second phase of the project, the groups bidding on federal funding were required to have large corporate partners. Bell senior vice-president of corporate services André Beaulieu said in a phone interview that the company is excited about Bell’s role in the larger picture of what machine learning can do, but also hopes to be able to improve its own operations as a result. The AI-Powered Supply Chains Supercluster would focus on augmenting supply chains with machine learning. “We're going to be part of the ecosystem that serves other businesses and other industries, because wireless connectivity and our network assets are brought to bear when you talk about machine intelligence,” Beaulieu said. The group will be co-chaired by Optel Vision Inc.'s Optel Group president Louis Roy and chairwoman and CEO of Centre d'Entreprises et d'Innovation de Montréal (CEIM), Hélène Desmarais. It has commitments from 60 companies to invest a combined $420 million into collaborative projects, if it gets through to the final round. “It's a big deal for us, as a company that has a big infrastructure, and we've got obviously a big supply chain, significant procurement activity, and different degrees of intelligence can come into these operations to improve them,” he said. Beaulieu explained he sees a rapidly approaching future where connected items in the home, office or even in the streets will use the power of AI. He added that the magic of machine learning comes from the ability to make sense, find patterns in, and make predictions with large amounts of data. He wants to leverage that ability to improve customer service. “These are small, unspectacular things,” Beaulieu told The Wire Report. But those examples could include elements which customers often request, like shortening the amount of time a technician needs to spend in a home, or being able to fix a technical problem before even needing to make a house call. As an example, the company could use the “technology to make sure we never stock out of a popular model . Even though you live in a smaller town, you're not worried about not getting what you want.” Telus is participating in two short-listed supercluster applications. One is the Smart Agri-food Supercluster which will be run out of Olds College in Calgary. Fifty corporate, academic and government organizations will be working together to create innovative solutions in the agriculture business. “Through strategic investment, the supercluster will help position Canada as an agriculture leader creating new jobs, investment and enhancing market access for the ag sector, while improving social and environmental performance,” Bill Whitelaw, chairman of the cluster’s steering committee, said in a release. “We want to approach innovation from a systems perspective, in order to create a Canada-wide platform to help link together key partners and expertise in the country’s agri-food value chain.” Telus declined a request for an interview, but provided a statement about how it would contribute to the Canadian Digital Technology Supercluster Initiative in B.C. by partnering with companies like Microsoft Corp., D-Wave Systems Inc., and Earth-observation satellite company Urthecast Corp. “British Columbia is the home of leading and emerging digital economy organizations that are positioning Canada as a global innovation leader," said Josh Blair, executive vice-president of Telus Health and Telus Business Solutions West, in an emailed statement. "We are proud to be partnering with digital leaders across the private sector, academia and the not-for-profit sector to bring forward a national initiative that can deliver major economic, employment and social benefits across multiple industry verticals such as healthcare, bioscience, environmental technology, smart cities and digital media." The nine short-listed candidate groups will have until Nov. 24 to submit their final applications to be considered for the final five superclusters. — With reporting by Bryson Masse at bmasse@thewirereport.ca and editing by Anja Karadeglija at akarad@thewirereport.ca

Telcos eye agri-food, digital tech, AI in supercluster initiative

News | October 19, 2017

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