VANCOUVER, BC, July 10,
2024 /CNW/ - DIGITAL, Canada's Global Innovation Cluster for digital
technologies, announced today its largest investment with
innovative Canadian health tech companies and researchers to
advance the development and deployment of AI-powered technologies
to better support healthcare providers and enhance patient
outcomes.
Transforming healthcare innovation with
AI-driven solutions.
Led by ORX in collaboration with a pan-Canadian team of Tali AI,
HEALWELL AI, Phelix AI, WELL Health Technologies and Simon Fraser University (SFU); DIGITAL's investment
in the Health Compass II project will introduce an innovative
suite of four AI-driven modules to increase patient
engagement, reduce administrative burnout, assist healthcare
providers with documentation and enhance clinical decision-making.
These modules will be integrated through an Electronic Medical
Record (EMR)-agnostic mobile app to further advance patient
engagement. WELL's capabilities as a Canadian leader in EMR
innovation, AI healthcare solutions and information security
services supports the consortium's collective commitments to
privacy, cyber security and ethical AI implementation for Health
Compass II.
DIGITAL's investment of $15.3
million to support the consortium of organizations is being
leveraged by investments from the project partners into a total
project value of $44 million. This
new commitment builds on DIGITAL's original $3.1 million investment in 2022, which
demonstrated the potential of an AI-powered ecosystem to transform
Electronic Medical Records (EMRs) via WELL's EMR leveraging ORX's
predictive AI technology and Tali AI's AI Assistant.
"Canada has a significant opportunity and imperative to
leverage our global leadership in AI research into accelerated
commercialization of Canadian AI applications and tools. These
tools will help solve some of the world's biggest challenges while
accelerating the growth of Canadian companies. DIGITAL's continued
investment in the Health Compass initiative is supporting improved
health outcomes for Canadians while also supporting Canadian
innovators," said Sue
Paish, CEO of DIGITAL. "Since 2018, DIGITAL has worked to
foster innovation, help Canadian companies grow and spur private
sector investment in digital solutions that are making a positive
difference in the lives of Canadians."
DIGITAL's new investment highlights DIGITAL's commitment to
supporting competitive Canadian companies scale through leveraging
and spurring private sector investment in innovation. The
collaboration is integrating tangible intellectual property (IP)
developed through the previous DIGITAL investment while also
enabling the growth of Canadian companies, supporting a Canadian
industry leader and Canadian AI research.
"This is a monumental milestone and we are honoured and
grateful to DIGITAL and Minister Champagne's office for their
commitment to supporting healthcare innovation," said
Hamed Shahbazi, CEO and Founder of
WELL Health Technologies. "At WELL, we are committed to
leveraging technology to empower healthcare providers to ultimately
improve patient outcomes. Projects like Health Compass II directly
support this mission and are essential in fuelling healthcare's
digital transformation."
The Honourable François-Philippe
Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, and
Vancouver-Granville MP, Taleeb Noormohamed, attended the
announcement with DIGITAL at WELL Health's Vancouver office, where they were given a live
demonstration of one of the Health Compass AI-driven modules from
Tali AI. The demonstration showcased Tali AI's AI
Assistant technology, which captures medically relevant
information from natural conversations without taking provider
focus away from their patient and alleviating significant
administrative burden.
"Artificial intelligence presents a transformative
opportunity for healthcare professionals to innovate and enhance
patient experiences, and Canada is
at the forefront of this pivotal field," said The Honourable
François-Philippe Champagne,
Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry. "Our government is
proud to champion the Digital Technology Cluster as it collaborates
with industry partners and researchers to reshape the delivery of
healthcare services for Canadians."
"From helping health professionals take notes and assist in
recording their diagnoses, to streamlining administrative paperwork
and facilitating the patient care experience, this innovative
project is using AI to build a better future for Canadians,"
said Taleeb Noormohamed, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of
Canadian Heritage. "The government looks forward to the success
of the Health Compass II project and to other made-in-Canada innovations, that will unlock social
and economic benefits for everyone."
Since 2018, DIGITAL has committed over $200 million of its total $255 million invested into Canadian-led,
AI-enabled technology development, commercialization and adoption.
DIGITAL's co-investments have spurred private industry investment
into a $637 million portfolio
spanning health care, natural resources, agriculture, and workforce
development. DIGITAL's private sector partners have gone on to
raise over $1.2 billion in follow-on
funding and generate over 630+ Canadian-owned IP assets and
patents.
To learn more about this investment and the Health Compass
project it supports, visit here.
Access this release in French here.
About DIGITAL
DIGITAL, Canada's Global
Innovation Cluster for digital technologies, grows Canadian
businesses through the development, adoption and deployment of
Canadian-made technologies and by working with industry to develop
a digitally skilled workforce to positively impact lives across our
country.
We bring together businesses, academia, community and government
agencies to solve some of industry and society's biggest challenges
– better and faster than any single organization can do on its own.
Through a 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
SOURCE DIGITAL