Since Scale AI’s founding in 2019, Canada’s AI cluster has worked tirelessly to empower and support Canadian businesses as they look to adopt homegrown AI technologies. It has built a Canadian AI ecosystem that not only boosts enterprise competitiveness and economic growth, but also does so through homegrown tech, fostering a high-value industry for the country.
The impacts of Scale AI’s support are undeniable. Humber River Health, in Toronto, has benefited from Scale AI’s strategic funding and support to transform the way health-care staff plan patient discharges, which it has done in partnership with Deloitte. The machine learning algorithms used to enhance Humber’s patient discharge platform, called iPlan, combine earlier risk identification with data-informed decision-making to reduce mismatches, delays and the overall length of patient stays. The success of Humber River Health’s project shows that thoughtfully integrated AI technology not only improves workflow for health-care workers, but it also brings concrete benefits for better patient care.
Other projects supported by Scale AI, like the Gray Oncology Solutions project, have brought together various Canadian stakeholders as a way to develop AI-driven solutions for larger, typically industry-wide challenges. In the case of Gray Oncology, 11 different health-care providers from multiple provinces are working to improve access to and scheduling around radiation therapy. The project uses new, advanced AI tools to predict the number and duration of radiation therapy appointments, reschedule appointments in case of service disruptions and even optimize the scheduling of appointments so providers can more easily move between patients. Thanks to AI-enhanced GrayOS, hospitals across the country, including The Ottawa Hospital, now have the capacity to treat an additional 1,000 patients every year while also reducing annual costs. As this project scales up, it will help reduce the 30 per cent of radiation therapy appointments that go unused due to higher patient volumes, limited technology and last-minute disruptions.
“Scale AI has supported Gray Oncology’s solution since 2020, providing both funding and strategic support,” says Julien Billot, Scale AI’s CEO. “The objective is to put AI to work for the benefit of all Canadians and to bring value to the Canadian economy by building resilient solutions that can be deployed at home and exported abroad.”
Health care is far from the only industry that stands to gain from the deployment of advanced AI tools.
For Canadian farmers, AI is helping to mitigate the effects of climate change and invasive species on crops. Through this collaboration between EarthDaily Analytics, agritech company Sygenta and Olds College of Agriculture & Technology, a public school an hour north of Calgary, an AI-powered platform was created that aims to alleviate the problems invasive species cause on crops, which the project estimates costs Canadian farmers about $2.2 billion annually. The system combines satellite imaging, AI modelling, alert methods that rank each notification by priority and targeted drone interventions to identify, monitor and resolve invasive threats.
Grocers and food providers also benefit from AI innovations. Reducing food waste and providing enough of produce in-demand are challenges that Canadian groceries face daily and that have direct impacts on consumers. Scale AI backs an initiative with Western Canadian grocer Save-On-Foods, deploying AI models to refine inventory forecasting and streamline deliveries operations. Through the partnership, Save-On-Foods is leveragingAI technologies to expand grocery access, a critical priority for remote and hard-to-reach communities across Western Canada and the Yukon.
The great strides that Canadian companies have been able to make thanks to the solutions provided by homegrown AI technologies play an important role in Canada’s ability to secure its technological sovereignty and generate greater economic value.
“Some often link the question of sovereignty solely to infrastructure: Where is our data stored, who owns our data centres and who provides us with our computing power? These questions are essential but only represent part of the equation,” says Billot. “We also have to ask ourselves who owns the technology we use, where the intellectual property is found and who we depend on for technologies that are becoming essential to the functioning of our economy.”
To join Canada’s AI ecosystem and learn more about Scale AI’s funding opportunities, visit www.scaleai.ca.
This story was created by Content Works, Postmedia’s commercial content division, on behalf of Scale AI.