The use of artificial intelligence (AI) applications in the business processes of Quebec companies is integrated by only 6% of them. Despite an ecosystem teeming with advanced technological solutions, created and developed here, this underutilized expertise must make itself better known in order to quickly promote better penetration of AI to ensure real optimization of its impact on the entire industry. ‘economy.
Posted at 6:30 a.m.
On their own, the reduction in productivity gaps between Quebec businesses and their peers in North America, as well as the persistent labor shortage that is curbing economic activity in Quebec, should be two powerful motivating arguments for accelerating the implementation of AI in the business processes of our companies.
In the mid-2010s, the advances of Quebec researchers in artificial intelligence and more particularly in deep learning led the major global digital players to come and invest in Montreal in the creation of research centers.
In turn, Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Samsung, DeepMind and Thales have set up a branch in Montreal to take advantage of the concentration of talent there and contribute to its attractiveness and the consolidation of the ambient excitement.
For the past two years, however, despite the listing of local stars such as Lightspeed, Dialogue or Coveo, we have the impression of hearing less about the advances in AI and even less about its contribution to the more generalized emancipation Quebec companies.
This is precisely the reason why the Quebec government decided to invest, in 2018, 100 million to better articulate the strategy of the artificial intelligence ecosystem. It is in this desire to anchor AI more firmly in the Quebec economy that the Forum IA organization was created.
“Our mandate is to better coordinate players in the AI sector to allow as many entrepreneurs and companies as possible to navigate this ecosystem and derive the greatest benefits for their organization” , explains Marie-Paule Jeansonne, CEO of the NPO Forum IA, set up in September 2020.
What must be done to implement artificial intelligence solutions in its industrial processes, what resources are available, who to consult to have the right diagnoses and the right tools that will increase the productivity of its organization? These are all questions that Forum IA can answer.
“We are in a second phase of deployment of AI in Montreal and Quebec. The first was the implementation of operational research, particularly in deep learning, which made it possible to attract and retain talent. There, we have to build on that, ”underlines Mme Jeansone.
Showcase, studies and emulation
Forum IA soon plans to provide companies in all sectors of activity with a showcase that will give them access to the main AI players in Quebec.
“We are talking about 600 companies and research institutes, incubators or venture capital firms which are active in the artificial intelligence sector and which can offer their solutions, their products or their expertise to support implementation of AI in companies wishing to increase their productivity and better manage their workforce,” says Marie-Paule Jeansonne.
There are obviously promising sectors such as biofood, health, finance, manufacturing and transportation. For example, Forum IA will guide companies that want to strengthen their supply chain towards its partner Scale AI, which financially supports innovative projects in this specific activity.
“We will soon be releasing a study on the place occupied by the Quebec AI ecosystem in relation to the rest of the world and another on the economic benefits generated by this same ecosystem of artificial intelligence in Quebec,” continues the CEO.
We already know that since 2017, more than $1.5 billion in private funding has been achieved in the AI ecosystem, but Quebec must not slow down if it wants to maintain its competitive position.
“On their own, Mila (the Quebec Institute of Artificial Intelligence), Ivado (the Institute for Data Valorization) and Scale AI (the artificial intelligence super cluster of Canada) are associated with development projects. implementation of AI in more than 300 companies. We must continue on this path and make as many business managers as possible aware of using AI in their industrial process,” insists the CEO.
The AI Forum is associated with all the main university centers in Quebec as well as with the network of more than 50 college institutions that are part of the College Centers for Technology Transfer, throughout Quebec.
According to Statistics Canada, there were 238,000 vacancies and unfilled positions as of the 3and quarter of 2021 in Quebec. With the announced end of health measures for March 14, it is very likely that this number will increase further.
Better management supported by a bit of artificial intelligence would make it possible to alleviate this deficiency, reduce the pressure on companies in need of manpower and optimize Quebec’s economic growth as a whole.