Realizing The Alberta AI Business Plan

Realizing the Alberta AIBusiness PlanJanuary, 2019

The OpportunityThe Alberta AI Business Plan outlines the vision andambition that will put Alberta on the map as a leader inArtificial Intelligence, paving the way for a billion dollarindustry in the province by 2025Why AI?70% of companies [will] adopt AI by 2030,potentially delivering additional economic outputof around 13 trillion, boosting global GDP by1.2% a year.McKinsey Global InstituteThe Fourth [revolution] is evolving at anexponential rather than a linear pace.Moreover, it is disrupting almost everyindustry in every country.China has laid out a development plan tobecome the world leader in AI by 2030,building a domestic industry worth 150billion.World Economic ForumNY Times

Why AlbertaAlberta is already an AI leader.Home to two of the greatest AI andmachine learning research centers(University of Alberta -UofA and AlbertaMachine Intelligence Institute - Amii).The University of Albertaranks 3rd in the Global CSRankingsOpportunity to translate that researchstrength into economic wealth forAlbertans (new companies and newjobs) and to diversify our economyWhere Will We Focus?Financial ServicesHealthEnergyConstruction & EngineeringGovernment Services2Transportation & Logistics1

The Business Plan: The GenesisA 2-day AI strategic planning session in July 2018 resulted in a Vision and selection of aSteering Committee.The Steering Committee has representatives from academia, industry, service providers,local organizations working since then to gather additional inputs from the community andensure that the business plan created addresses the requirements and leads to theachievement of the vision.Steering Committee Members Ashif Mawji, Rising Tide VCBin Lau, City of EdmontonBruce Alton, A-PartnersCam Linke, AmiiCheryll Watson, EEDCChris Lumb, TEC EdmontonCory Janssen, AltaMLSteering Committee Advisors Cynthia van Sundert, A100Dalibor Petrovic, DeloitteEvan Hu, Creative Destructive LabForrest Zeisler, JobberJonathan Schaeffer, University of ABRyan Kelly, City of EdmontonTerry Rock, Calgary Technologies Inc. Chris Godwaldt, COSIAReg Joseph, Health CityDave Mowat, Past ATB FinancialCarman NcNary, DentonsAllan Scott, Past EEDCJohn Shillington, AmiiCurtis Stange, ATBDan Wicklum, COSIA

The Business Plan: DevelopmentConsultationsInterviews conducted withvarious ecosystem players togather data for initiatives andto build the business planAI CommunityMeetups70 leaders from thecommunity attended 2community meetups withongoing communication via awebsite and a slack channel.Persona InterviewsLetters of SupportInterviews with 5 community profiles:young local tech talent, business leader,investor, university AI researcher and astartup founder to understand thevarying ecosystem needsSupport from businesses,investor groups, highereducation institutions andother AI bodies.SteeringCommittee MeetingsWeekly 3-hour steeringcommittee working sessionswith guest participation fromindustry and governmentBusiness PlanSocializationMarket ResearchJurisdictional scan and marketresearch to supplement theinputs obtained from theconsultationsWe are here

DRAFTThe ambition is to leverage strengths to create a billion industry and aGlobal AI Hub.This business plan outlines ways to leverage the existing ecosystem and its strengths, such as skilled andentrepreneurial talent, and a great quality of life to achieve a very ambitious visionOur Vision:“A world-class hub for AI-driven products and services creating a billion dollarindustry in Alberta by 2025”Our Ambition:“Continually growing a local ecosystem of fundamental and applied research, talent, data,infrastructure and capital that leads to the creation of commercially-focused intellectual property andethically responsible and globally competitive AI-driven products, services and companies”5

The Business Plan: BlueprintThe target ecosystem, which will drive new AI jobs, new companies & projects and economic growth iscreated through five enablers.EconomicGrowthNewCompanies& NewProjectsNewJobsTALENTINVESTORSDevelop the workforcethat will be employed inthe AI ecosystem Entrepreneurs Innovators Technical Talent Executive Talent Business ALBERTA MACHINEINTELLIGENCE INSTITUTE(AMII)MARKET PRESENCEStrengthen profile, buildcommunity and increasemarket share Trade Events Competitions Summits Branding and Marketing Community Events Public RelationsSTART-UPSAI ATESEcosystem PlayersMARKET PRESENCETALENTRESEARCH& DEVELOPMENTRESEARCHINDUSTRY SOLUTIONSINFRASTRUCTUREEnablers& DEVELOPMENTBuild on our world-classacademic research andtranslate it intoIntellectual Propertycreation Scientific Research Applied ResearchINFRASTRUCTURECreate the environment thatis required to succeed Funding / Capital Technology SpaceINDUSTRY SOLUTIONSCreate the environment tofoster industry engagementin the ecosystem Education Ideation Prototyping Product Development andLaunch Industry Data3

CopyEnablersOverview

Develop the workforce that will beemployed in the AI ecosystem Entrepreneurs Innovators Technical Talent Executive Talent Business TalentTalentT1: Expanduniversityeducationprograms &supportingtrainingprogramsT2: Expand AIinternships & coop programs§ Increased student capacity,§ Increased number of AI relatedfaculty positions & infrastructureco-op/intern positionsat UofA§ Increased number of students§ New certificate programs fortaking up internship and co-opretraining and productopportunitiesdevelopment skills§ Centralized easy-to access§ Expanded supporting programs atwebsite with related coother Alberta universities andop/iintern postingscolleges§ Recommendations for updates toK-12 curriculumT3: StrengthenAI talentrecruitingprograms§ Expanded ongoing recruitmentprograms in and outside ofEdmonton§ Competitive offers, benefits andincentives to attract and retaintalent§ Centralized easy-to accesswebsite with AI related jobpostingsT4: Develop AItalent exchange& mentorshipprograms§ Increased number of studentsand professionals participatingin AI exchange programs§ Increased number of new AIentrepreneurs matched with amentor every yearT5: Promoteflexibleacademia/industrypositions§ Increased number of jointacademia/industry researcherroles created§ Increased patent creation andcommercialization activity byresearchers who hold jointacademia/industry positions

Research &DevelopmentR1: Expandacademicresearchcapacity§ Addition of new researchers in AI§ Increased number of students performingresearch§ Increase in funding for AI research§ Diversification of AI research focus beyondReinforcement Learning and Gaming§ Expanded facility & technology capacity tomeet the research expansion needsBuild on our world-class academicresearch and translate it intoIntellectual Property and Productcreation Scientific Research Applied ResearchR2: Expandapplied &industrialresearchcapacity§ Alberta is ranked to being the world's best at theintersection of industry and AI§ Increased number of corporate research labs andresearch collaborations with UofA and Amii§ Increased number of jobs created through corporatelabs and research collaborations§ Enhanced coordination and collaboration withimproved connections between innovation supportsand outputs (supply side) and industry receptors(demand side)

InfrastructureI1: Develop &implementfundingstrategy§ Increased public and privateinvestments in AI§ Increased in availability ofrisk capital and increaseddeal flow visibility§ Increased visibility in howto obtain funding§ Increased number ofcompanies and projectsfundedI2: Attract &establish AIacceleratorprograms§ World-class acceleratorestablished§ Increased number of newideas funded / year with thesupport of the AIAccelerator§ Use cases and businessproblems identified that canbe solved using AI startups§ Increased number of jobscreatedI3: Establish AIHubgovernance &collaboration§ Committee operational andchair selected§ AI Hub recognized as thego-to driver of AIengagement in AlbertaCreate the environment that is requiredto succeed Funding / Capital Technology Data SpaceI4: Establish AIHQ§ Headquarters (physicaland/or virtual) establishedin existing or new space§ AI Hub portal established asthe one stop shop for allinformation related to AI

IndustrySolutionsIS1: EstablishAI ProductDev. Program§ Increased number of AIproducts developed§ Increased number ofstartups applying for theaccelerator programIS2: ExpandIndustry AIKnowledgeTransferProgram§ Greater synergy between industry andresearchers§ Increased commercialization of research§ Industry use cases identified and research isable to meet the industry needs§ Increase industry interest in new AI technology§ Industrial organizations identified and trainedto adopt AICreate the environment to fosterindustry engagement in theecosystemI4: ExpandLarge IndustryData Sets§ Increased number of datasets available for AIresearch§ Increased number ofproducts developed basedon the use of large industrydata sets

Market PresenceM1: Develop &ExecuteMarketing &BrandingStrategy§ Increased social mediapresence and creation ofEdmonton AI brand§ Raise internationalawareness of Alberta's AIstrengths and capabilities§ Increased talent andinvestment attraction andretention§ Accelerated AI adoptionacross AlbertaM2: ConductOngoingOutbound andInbound Visits§ Increased collaborationwith other cities andcountries and withmunicipal, provincial andfederal trade departments§ Increased customer and/orpartnership opportunitiesfor the local AI community§ Increased number of visitsby key customers andpartners to Edmonton andAlbertaM3: Organize AISummits,Conference&Competitions§ Ongoing large conferencesand summits and smallerevents like hackathons§ Open data student researchcontests§ Ongoing involvement in theSummer school program§ Monthly communitymeetups to keep theecosystem stakeholdersengagedStrengthen profile, build the communityand increase market share Trade Events Competitions Summits Branding and Marketing Community Events Public RelationsM4: FosterDev. of AI UserGroups &Associations§ Increased buy-in fromcurrent associations andgroups§ Increased collaborationwith existing or newindustry associations thatfocus on the application ofAI in specific industrysectors§ Increased clarity in mandateand value of AI user groupsM5: Develop &ImplementOutreachEducationPrograms§ Increased opportunities forstakeholders to get familiarwith AI and its potentials§ Increased awareness andtrust with business leaders,community, investors andstudents§ Increased number ofstakeholders involved in theAI ecosystem

EnablersIn addition to the enablers identified forcreating the target ecosystem, there is aneed to advocate for key changes tobridge gaps in the ecosystem