Vancouver, BC – February 5th, 2025 – DIGITAL, Canada’s Global Innovation Cluster for digital technologies, is celebrating its ongoing impact and investment in Canadian genomics with today’s announcement of the Canadian Platform for AI in Health. DIGITAL’s co-investment in the Canadian Platform for AI in Health initiative, led by DIGITAL Member DNAstack, aims to accelerate the global expansion of AI-driven software for genomics and health research. The project consortium, also including Autism Speaks, The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), PacBio and Valence; aims to deliver better health outcomes for Canadians by making it easier to analyze exponentially growing volumes of distributed health data.
Since 2018, DIGITAL has played a key role in driving genomics innovation, commercialization and adoption with an $83 million genomics portfolio spanning the health and natural resources sectors. DIGITAL’s genomics initiatives have resulted in tangible economic and societal benefits, projecting incremental five-year revenue growth of over $300 million for Canadian companies. These initiatives have produced 50 commercial outputs, with over half at advanced technology readiness levels, leading to breakthroughs in areas such as precision health, mining innovation, sustainable agriculture and more.
“Accelerating the commercialization of genomics is crucial to fast-tracking solutions that strengthen our economy, improve healthcare for Canadians and enhance the competitiveness of our natural resource sectors,” said Nadia Shaikh-Naeem, Vice President of Programs at DIGITAL. “DIGITAL is proud to continue our investments in helping position Canada as a leader in the global bioeconomy, alongside our ongoing priorities of supporting 100% Canadian-owned intellectual property (IP) and spurring opportunities for Canadian small-to-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).”
DIGITAL’s continued focus on 100% Canadian-owned IP and supporting commercialization coincides with findings outlined by the Canadian Genomics Strategy Secretariat, which outlined areas of Canada’s strengths that can continue to drive innovation in personalized medicine, agricultural genomics and biomanufacturing. DIGITAL’s network of 95 unique partners, 45 of which are SMEs, on genomics-related initiatives continue to bring other Canadian advantages, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced analytics, into realizing the potential of genomic data.
About DIGITAL
DIGITAL is Canada’s leader in accelerating the development and commercialization of Canadian-made digital technologies that capture some of Canada’s biggest opportunities while addressing some of the most pressing needs. DIGITAL’s model of collaborative innovation and co-investment advances the success of Canadian businesses through the development, adoption and commercialization of Canadian-made technologies while also growing a workforce that is skilled to fill the jobs of a growing digital economy.
DIGITAL brings together businesses, academia, community and government agencies to solve some of industry and society’s biggest challenges and to capture opportunities for Canada – better and faster than any single organization can do on its own. Through the powerful model that combines cross-sector collaboration, Canadian IP creation and results-based co-investment, we unlock the potential of Canadian industry to lead and succeed in the digital world.
Ahead of the curve starts here. For more information, visit digitalsupercluster.ca
DIGITAL Press Contact:
Sydney Redpath
media@digitalsupercluster.ca
Read this release in French here.