Province unveils innovation, productivity task force with eye on AI, IP

By the end of the year, Manitoba should have a strategy on artificial intelligence, data security and future innovation.

The provincial government unveiled an innovation and productivity task force — comprised of industry members — to oversee the strategic plan’s creation.

“The world has changed seismically over the last 30 years from a traditional production economy to one that’s based on intangibles of intellectual property and artificial intelligence and data,” said Jim Balsillie, who will co-chair the new group with provincial Innovation Minister Mike Moroz.

Balsillie chairs the Council of Canadian Innovators and is former co-chief executive of BlackBerry Ltd.

The task force, which includes seven more members, will provide a swath of recommendations to government.

Balsillie said he was tapped by Premier Wab Kinew months ago to spearhead a plan ensuring Manitoba’s economy is “prosperous and secure and safe” in the changing world.

He and peers will look at potential protections as artificial intelligence use grows and the infrastructure needed to foster AI use. The group will delve into intellectual property and sovereignty within Manitoba.

“Being more sovereign, being more value-add, has been a priority for decades,” Balsillie said. “But it’s been laid bare in the last couple months.”

The task force will meet every couple weeks over the next six months. The team held its first meeting Wednesday. Determining who to reach out to, and what, exactly, they need to research to fulfill the premier’s vision is a journey they’re just beginning, Balsillie relayed.

The province listed government agencies, industry experts, researchers and Indigenous communities as groups that’ll be involved in the strategy’s creation.

A plan should be completed by November, Balsillie confirmed. “I have every confidence the everybody’s stepping up and going to meet the deadline.”

Gautam Srivastava, a Brandon University computer science professor, is one of the task force members. He researches artificial intelligence and data security and privacy.

Srivastava considers it a “strategic time” to be building such a report.

“Everyone wants a piece of this artificial intelligence and data analytics pie,” he said. “I think our agility here in Manitoba, to create an ecosystem to provide that, could be really prosperous.”

If Manitoba can offer computation and infrastructure for computation, it’ll draw entrepreneurs, Srivastava said.

He plans to research education opportunities — like additive post-secondary programs — in his task force position.

Other task force members include Adam Herstein, a partner at Pitblado Law; Clara Buelow, Manitoba Chambers of Commerce communications director and previous lead of the Digital Manitoba Policy Initiative; Jacqueline Keena, managing director of Enterprise Machine Intelligence Learning Initiative (EMILI); Gerry Price, president of Price Industries; Debra Jonasson-Young, executive director of entrepreneurship at the Stu Clark Centre for Entrepreneurship in the University of Manitoba; and Ernest Cholakis, founder of Cholakis Dental Group.

The province launched its department of innovation and new technology in November.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com