We talk a lot about Montreal as a world center for artificial intelligence, but there are also things happening in the field elsewhere in the province. Especially in Quebec and Lévis. Insight.
The Intelligence and Data Institute of Laval University
Research in the field of artificial intelligence and data valorization had been active for years at Laval University, but the various areas of expertise were federated three years ago with the creation of the Intelligence and Data Institute ( IID). It brings together the Big Data Research Center (CRDM), the Robotics, Vision and Machine Intelligence Research Center (CeRVIM), the Geospatial Data and Intelligence Research Center (CRDIG) and the Interuniversity Research Center on Data Networks. enterprise, logistics and transport (CIRRELT).
“Bringing these centers together under the same umbrella makes it possible to have a wide variety of expertise and thus to carry out multidisciplinary projects with organizations,” says Lynda Robitaille, administrative director of the IID.
In particular, the IID carries out knowledge transfer and support for the development of digital tools in companies thanks to the support of the National Research Council Canada (NRC) and the deployment of trainees from the professional master’s degree in computer science – artificial intelligence.
“We are also preparing a regional tour with the CNRC and the MAIN [Mouvement des accélérateurs d’innovation du Québec] to raise awareness of our expertise and our services in order to accelerate digital transformation,” adds Lynda Robitaille.
For several years now, a major project has been underway with Intact Insurance. A dozen researchers and thirty graduate students are involved in this massive data analysis project.
Another great project, DEEL (DEpendable & Explainable Learning) – Quebec, is being carried out with other universities and several large companies such as Bombardier and CAE to work on artificial intelligence in on-board aircraft systems.
“These are major initiatives, but we are also developing projects with small and medium-sized businesses,” says Ms.me Robitaille. The IID is also fortunate to be able to count on about fifteen data professionals to move projects forward more quickly. »
Digital supply chains in Lévis
The Research Chair in Artificial Intelligence for Digital, Resilient, Agile and Sustainable Supply Chains was recently created at the Université du Québec à Rimouski (UQAR), which has a campus in Lévis.
“It is in fact an initiative of the City of Lévis, which wants businesses in the Chaudière-Appalaches region and Quebec to better face the current challenges of digitizing production processes and labor shortages. explains Loubna Benabbou, professor in the department of management sciences at UQAR and holder of this new chair.
The research is done in collaboration with companies, in particular XST (Xpert Technological Solutions), a Lévis company specializing in the development and management of an information system on maritime traffic management.
“With each company, we define the performance indicator they want to improve, then we collect data, clean it, process it and use, for example, an algorithm to help the company make better decisions,” says Loubna. Benabbou.
The researcher believes that artificial intelligence can help companies in all fields of activity to build a more resilient, more agile and more sustainable supply chain when they are likely to experience all kinds of disruptions. . “And this is true not only in the production process, but also from the contact with the first supplier until the delivery of the product or service to the customer”, she specifies.