OTTAWA and QUEBEC CITY — The government of Canada today announced the opening of an artificial intelligence research centre in Montréal as part of Canada’s participation in the new Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI), also launched officially today.
Canada’s minister of innovation, science and industry, Navdeep Bains, and Quebec’s minister of international relations and la francophonie, Nadine Girault, jointly announced the opening of the International Centre of Expertise in Montréal for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (ICEMAI), as well as the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) under GPAI.
GPAI is designed to facilitate international and multi-stakeholder collaboration by bringing together experts from industry, civil society, governments and academia, said the announcement.
It will conduct activities across four themes, including two supported by the Montréal Centre of Expertise: responsible AI and data governance. A corresponding Centre of Excellence in Paris will support the other two themes: future of work, and innovation and commercialization. In light of the current pandemic, GPAI will also investigate how AI can be leveraged to respond to and recover from Covid-19, says the news release.
Several Canadian experts will contribute to the cutting-edge research and activities of GPAI’s working groups on these themes, including Yoshua Bengio, founder and scientific director of the Mila research institute in artificial intelligence, who will co-chair the working group on responsible AI.
“In launching GPAI, the Government of Canada recognizes the need for the responsible development of AI. This builds on our government’s pan-Canadian AI strategy to advance AI research and promote collaboration. Our partnership with Quebec in this area will help us ensure that AI benefits Canadians in an equitable and socially responsible way. By connecting the work of GPAI with the technological innovations of Montréal’s AI sector and by establishing partnerships with the provinces and territories, we will produce useful research and expertise for governments around the world,” said Minister Bains, in the news release.
The ICEMAI will work with the government of Canada’s advisory council on artificial intelligence, Forum IA Québec, and the International Observatory on the Societal Impacts of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Technologies, as well as with other experts to strengthen innovation and the commercialization of AI technologies, says the release. The ICEMAI and the Paris Centre of Expertise will work closely with the GPAI Secretariat, which will be hosted at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
In addition to its thematic work on responsible AI and data governance, the ICEMAI will also plan the first annual GPAI multi-stakeholder experts group plenary, to be held in Montreal in December 2020.
The MOU signed between the governments of Canada and Quebec will allow Quebec to participate in GPAI-related activities, as well as being able to advance its scientific perspectives and recommend experts to GPAI’s working groups. In addition, the governments of Canada and Quebec will continue to collaborate with other provincial and territorial governments to ensure Canada’s work draws from the strong AI expertise found across the country, says the release.
In March 2018, the government of Quebec announced a $5 million grant to support the creation of an international AI organization in Montréal. The federal government had previously committed to investing up to $10 million over five years to support the Montréal Centre of Expertise and GPAI. The total amount of the investment will be up to $15 million over five years.
