Vancouver, British Columbia [October 22, 2020] – The Digital Technology Supercluster is extending funding in five Feasibility Studies selected in the COVID-19 Program. Feasibility Studies enable Members to determine if a technology or innovative idea is appropriate for a large-scale project with the intention of developing an application for co-investment through our competitive call for projects. Members test new ideas with collaborators, identify potential markets and customers, and adapt as needed, ensuring responsible investment in projects.
The Feasibility Studies deployed in the COVID-19 Program allow Members and collaborators to identify rising challenges created by the changing environment the COVID-19 pandemic brings.
“Our approach to investing in new, innovative digital technologies is based on sound experimentation in a controlled setting. These feasibility studies allow us to experiment while identifying the best application of the technology to ensure success” explained Bill Tam, Co-Founder of the Digital Technology Supercluster.
There are five Feasibility Studies continuing on as projects:
- COVID Cloud brings together Canadian expertise to accelerate the development of a digital technology platform to help track how SARS-CoV-2 is evolving over time and across specific geographic regions, uncover why the virus severity differs between people, as well as inform the development and impact of public health policies, diagnostics, treatments, or vaccines
- Lifesaver aims to fill COVID-19 information gaps by consolidating and harmonizing vast arrays of data;
- Raven2 extends the scope of the team’s original work by finding new, safe COVID-19 therapeutics that could be sold commercially in Canada and worldwide;
- Scaling Safe Food Delivery for Canadians: A Pandemic-Ready eGrocery Solution, covers everything a retailer needs to offer online grocery sales at scale and helping to ensure food security for all Canadians; and
- Screen O/S is now focused on improving screening for the education sector and film industry after a successful two-month assessment of their on-the-spot screening technology.
In some instances, teams shifted focus to better align their solution with the evolving problem. In others, project investment will be used to scale technologies that were found successful in initial market studies.
“The health and safety of Canadians continues to be our number one priority. I am delighted to see the Digital Technology Supercluster diving deeper into innovative technologies and solutions that will lead to a better understanding of the novel coronavirus and keeping Canadians safe throughout this pandemic and beyond,” says The Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry.
More information about these projects can be found here. Information about the COVID-19 Program can and its projects can be found here.
Media Inquiries: For more information, please contact Elysa Darling at edarling@digitalsupercluster.ca or 1-587-890-9833. For media assets, click here. Interview opportunities with Bill Tam, COO, Digital Technology Supercluster, are available upon request.
About Digital Technology Supercluster:
The Digital Technology Supercluster solves some of industry’s and society’s biggest problems through Canadian-made technologies. We bring together private and public sector organizations of all sizes to address challenges facing Canada’s economic sectors including healthcare, natural resources, manufacturing, and transportation. Through this ‘collaborative innovation,’ the Supercluster helps to drive solutions better than any single organization could on its own. The Digital Technology Supercluster is led by industry leaders such as D-Wave, LifeLabs, LlamaZOO, Lululemon, MDA, Microsoft, Mosaic Forest Management, Sanctuary AI, Teck Resources Limited, TELUS, Terramera, and 1Qbit. Together, we work to position Canada as a global hub for digital innovation. A full list of Members can be found here.
About the COVID-19 Program:
The COVID-19 Program aims to improve the health and safety of Canadians and support Canada’s ability to address issues created by the COVID-19 outbreak. In addition, the program will build expertise and capacity to anticipate and address issues that may arise in future health crises, from healthcare to a return to work and community. More information can be found here.