February 23, 2018 | Local, Aerospace
Canada's aviation and aerospace industries will play a key role in the creation of innovation superclusters similar to Silicon Valley.
Air Canada and PAL Aerospace are among hundreds of companies involved in creating five superclusters across Canada, with a $950 million investment from the federal government that will be matched dollar-for-dollar by the private sector.
“We think this is important for Canada,” said Catherine Dyer, chief information officer for Air Canada, in an interview with Skies.
“We really view ourselves as a leader in this space, and to build capability in this part of the country, and more broadly for Canada, are two things that we think go very nicely together.”
Air Canada will be part of the Quebec-based SCALE.AI supercluster, which aims to use artificial intelligence and robotics to build intelligent supply chains, making Canada a world-leading exporter.
“Our hope around this is that it will help us become more efficient in how we deal in our operations excellence program, as well as in our cargo business,” said Dyer.
“But from my perspective it has got probably further-reaching opportunities in terms of how we enable employees and customers in creating that Air Canada experience that we're all very focused on.
“So most immediately it's going to be focused on the logistics components of our business. But we do believe that artificial intelligence, more generally, has got some fairly broad-reaching implications for our company.”
Air Canada was a key player in creating the supercluster submission in late 2017 and sees its involvement as a step toward becoming a global leader in supply chain management.
SCALE.AI includes 120 partners across Canada from a wide range of industries, including transportation, telecommunications, mining, food, and oil and gas.
“We [Air Canada] would be looking at how we could use artificial intelligence to help us see things maybe we don't see when we're looking at it with human brains,” said Dyer.
“That really is the purpose of artificial intelligence, is to take the collective wisdom of many people, and the computing power of machines, and apply it to the business problems that we have today.”
Air Canada plans to use artificial intelligence to develop new tools that allow it to better manage cargo capacity, resulting in better customer service.
“Timeliness is essential when shipping fresh products and employees will have better tools to forecast the need for space in temperature controlled facilities, facilitate tracking and ensure timely delivery,” said Isabelle Arthur, senior media relations manager for Air Canada, in a statement.
“Air Canada already uses artificial intelligence in revenue management, to forecast aircraft maintenance, in marketing, in elevating customer experience and communications by partnering with government, universities in Toronto and Montreal to help Canada retake a leadership position.”
PAL Aerospace will be part of the Ocean Supercluster in Atlantic Canada, which plans to use innovation to improve competitiveness in ocean-based industries like fisheries, oil and gas, and clean energy.
The company will design and execute projects that encourage collaboration with other supercluster members, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and academic institutions, said Derek F. Scott, vice-president of program development for PAL Aerospace, in a statement to Skies.
“We aim to use supercluster initiatives to advance our digitalization objectives in our modern ocean surveillance programs such as the ice management services we continue to provide the oil and gas industry today,” he said.
“In addition, we intend to use the program to advance opportunities to strategically insert other entities such as SME companies into our solution and supply chain for our domestic and international customers.”
He noted Canada has the longest coastline in the world, which spans some of the most challenging ocean environments, including the North Atlantic.
“Innovation is a solution to challenge, and Canada has an ocean of opportunity to drive innovation into technologies and capabilities that contribute to Canada's economic growth, sustainability and export growth,” said Scott
“PAL Aerospace is a leading example of how ocean innovation contributed to its success and the Ocean Supercluster initiative will now give us an opportunity to capitalize on that strength and create even more success for PAL Aerospace and for those companies and entities that work with us on the program.”
Along with the SCALE.AI and Ocean superclusters, three others are planned:
More than 450 businesses, 60 post-secondary institutions and 180 other participants are involved in the five supercluster initiatives, according to a government news release.
It's expected the superclusters will create 50,000 middle-class jobs and grow Canada's economy by $50 billion over the next 10 years.
https://www.skiesmag.com/news/silicon-valley-style-innovation-clusters-include-aviation-companies/
May 23, 2023 | Local, Naval
L’inclusion du chantier maritime Davie dans la Stratégie nationale de construction navale (SNCN) fait rêver à Lévis. Avec environ 8,5 milliards de dollars en contrats fédéraux à portée de main, on voit la construction navale devenir un secteur de pointe comme l’aéronautique à Montréal. Mais les fournisseurs de Davie ont du pain sur la planche pour ne pas rater le bateau.
August 25, 2022 | Local, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR
Today, Defence Minister Anita Anand and General Wayne Eyre, Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS), visited 5 Wing Goose Bay in Newfoundland and Labrador, where they met with members of the Canadian Armed Forces stationed at the base, and thanked them for their important work and dedication to protecting Canada.
September 26, 2018 | Local, Security
By Anna Desmarais Using artificial intelligence at Canada's official points of entry can lead to serious human rights violations, according to a new report. Released Wednesday by the University of Toronto's International Human Rights Program (IHRP) and the Citizen Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, the report says the use of artificial intelligence (AI) at regular points of entry is “quite risky” without appropriate government oversight. “We know that, in other contexts, AI is not neutral,” report author Petra Molnar told iPolitics. “It's basically like a recipe. If your recipe is biased, then the result that is going to come out of the algorithm is also going to be biased.” What these technologies could do, according to the report, is decide whether a marriage is genuine, an application is complete, or whether someone entering the country is deemed “a risk” to public safety. If the government doesn't provide more oversight, such decisions could rely on appearance, religion, or travel patterns as “proxies” for more relevant data normally gathered by immigration officials. This could compromise some quintessential human rights for immigrants and refugees at the border, including the right to equality and to be protected from discrimination under the law. The report says AI machines could be taught algorithms for how to assess “red flags,” “risks,” and “frauds” based on pre-existing biases in some of the immigration and refugee system's current regulations. For example, the report said the Designated Country of Origin list, which classifies which countries are “safe” for refugee claimants, uses an “incomplete” definition of safety that does not take into account specific risks for minority groups, such as women or members of the LGBTQ community. The use of AI technologies could mean cases are likely to be determined only based on these types of guidelines and might not include the discretion and empathy employed by immigration officials when reviewing the details of a refugee claim. “Depending on how an algorithm is designed, it may result in indirect discrimination,” the report found. “The complexity of human migration is not easily reducible to an algorithm.” If someone is triaged or flagged for early deportation, it could also affect their ability to apply for a visa, appeal a negative immigration ruling, or continue to move between borders. AI technologies also bring up procedural-rights issues, such as how a potential immigrant or refugee claimant would challenge the outcome of his case at the border. “When you introduce AI, if you don't agree with the decision, where do you appeal? And what kind of appeal are you crafting?” Molnar said. “These are all new questions we have to ask ourselves.” The report found that the government has been experimenting with artificial intelligence since 2014. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada confirmed to the report's authors in June it was already using an automated response to “triage,” or separate, simple claims from complicated ones that need further review. This summer, the government sent out an RFI (a preliminary procurement document) seeking an “Artificial Intelligence Solution” to provide legal support for migrants entering at formal points of entry. These investments fit into the federal government's $125-million Pan-Canadian Artificial Intelligence Strategy to “develop global thought leadership on the economic, ethical, policy and legal implications” of AI research throughout the country. Molnar said she heard from government officials that their use of AI is “preliminary” at best. What the government is considering, she continued, is using AI technologies only for preliminary screening. After AI technologies have reviewed a case, Molnar said immigration officers should still be asked to review the decision and make any appropriate changes. Molnar said it's still too soon to tell what AI could look like at the borders, but noted the technological changes could be vast. “It can be as simple as an Excel sheet, all the way to totally autonomous robots in other sectors,” she continued. “In immigration, how this could manifest ... could include a triage system where a traveller might be designated a high risk or low risk, or streamed for high risk and low risk.” To solve these possible human-rights infringements, the report suggests installing an independent, arms-length government-oversight body to “engage in all aspects of oversight,” before the government continues to develop these technologies. This recommendation, Molnar said, is in line with the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat's review into responsible use of AI throughout government offices. Among other recommendations, the board suggests more transparency from government offices about when AI technologies will be used during a discretionary decision-making process. The report notes this suggestion “is promising, from a human-rights perspective,” but the document is non-binding and is still subject to change. Until the review body is created, the report suggests government freeze “all efforts to procure, develop or adopt” any new automated-decision-system technology before a government oversight process is in place. https://ipolitics.ca/2018/09/26/artificial-intelligence-at-border-could-infringe-on-human-rights-report/