Ontario doubles down on rural internet, AI, sets up fund for next gen tech

The Ontario government is pledging $50 million for a fund that will accelerate the development of next generation technology including artificial intelligence, 5G and autonomous vehicles. Unveiled Wednesday in this year’s provincial budget, the Transformative Technology Partnerships Fund will spread out the money over the next 10 years, and is intended to bring together smaller businesses that create the technology, businesses that adopt the technology, postsecondary and research institutions and municipalities and communities “to collaborate on new dynamic products and services.” The technologies, which also include advanced computing and quantum technologies and could bolster the province’s large manufacturing sector, “are improving Ontario’s workforce productivity,” the budget said. The province pledged funding for the latest tech in last year’s budget, including $130 million over five years for 5G development and $50 million into the Vector Institute, a research facility dedicated to developing AI launched in Toronto by Alphabet Inc.’s Google early last year. The government will invest another $30 million to support the Vector Institute this time around. The money is intended to get the institute to collaborate with academic institutions to increase the number of Master’s degree graduates in AI-related fields to the tune of 1,000 annually within five years. Citing its previous moves to fund the development of broadband infrastructure like, including through the Southwestern Integrated Fibre Technology (SWIFT) project and a partnership with the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC), the province also reiterated its commitment to build out more rural broadband connectivity. The budget outlined how the Ontario government will invest another $500 million over three years to “to expand broadband connectivity in rural and northern communities,.” it read. Included in that money, is up to $71 million towards better cell coverage in eastern Ontario and $20 million for satellite internet company Telesat Holdings Inc. to build a “Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite constellation project,” saying it will which it said would support broadband access in remote and unserved communities. The budget also pledges to allocate an additional $15 million over three years to a Toronto-based accelerator of early-stage AI startups called NextAI. NextAI is a tech hub under Next Canada, a national non-profit, which praised the move in a press release Wednesday. “These additional resources will allow us to do more to support the growth of new AI ventures in Ontario,” Next Canada’s CEO and former Ryerson University president Sheldon Levy said in the release. The government will also explore a data strategy intended to help Ontarians “reap the significant benefits from responsibly using publicly funded data generated here.” “The vast streams of data generated by social media and business information platforms, smartphones, the Internet of Things and sensors are the fuel that powers the emerging data-driven global economy,” the document said. “Organizations that are able to capture, use and reuse these streams of data are developing valuable new products, solutions and services, including public services that benefit consumers and businesses, grow the economy and support social well‐being.”

Ontario doubles down on rural internet, AI, sets up fund for next gen tech

Brief | March 29, 2018

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Ontario doubles down on rural internet, AI, sets up fund for next gen tech

Brief | March 29, 2018

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