[THE PRESS + PORTFOLIO ] – Tuesday, March 13
Despite the subsidies available to them, a survey by the Conseil de l’innovation du Québec found that 71% of companies finance their projects themselves, exposing their resources to numerous technological and financial risks. Liette Lamonde, General Manager of PROMPT, stresses the importance of sharing these risks. The organization, which supports a variety of information and communication technology research projects, shares its valuable advice and inspiring examples.
INNOVATION: Little-known sources of financing
The same survey explains that, by 2022, “companies that have carried out at least one innovation project will have experienced revenue growth 2.5 times greater than [companies that have] not carried out an innovation project”. PROMPT facilitates access to such gains by matching the most appropriate Funding Programs to each project, and by offering support during the application process, to increase the success rate of the project in question.
“Some programs provide financing of up to 50% of the project’s value, in the form of a non-repayable grant. This is a powerful financial lever to help Quebec companies accelerate their technological development.” Liette Lamonde, General Manager, PROMPT
Cybersecurity, artificial intelligence (AI), manufacturing productivity, greenhouse gas reduction, collaborative research and quantum technologies: these are just some of the spheres of innovation for which PROMPT offers funding opportunities.
Working together to accelerate research and development (R&D)
PROMPT facilitates the creation of partnerships between the research community and companies to develop and test innovative solutions in a real-life context. Whether developing a breakthrough technology or equipment that offers a unique competitive advantage, such collaborations benefit from the experience and expertise of everyone involved, while sharing the costs and risks inherent in any cutting-edge project.
Innovative projects
Reinventing construction
Restoring housing affordability in Canada by 2030 will require the construction of 3.5 million new homes, far more than the current pace of housing starts. With the support of a dozen partners, PROMPT is funding research at the École de technologie supérieure into building information modeling (BIM), which will help increase productivity and integrate technologies into supply chains to close this gap.
“PROMPT has enabled us to overcome the deep fragmentation typical of the construction industry and bring together representatives of the entire ecosystem in a single research program. This is unique in the world. Ivanka Iordanova, Professor, Department of Construction Engineering, École de technologie supérieure
In particular, the work is aimed at reducing costs and the ecological footprint of worksites, speeding up delivery times and continuously improving processes. They also pave the way for other innovations in AI, industrialization and the circular economy.
“This is a lever for increasing the digital maturity of the industry and helping to make it more efficient, adds Ivanka Iordanova.
FUNDED PROJECTS
Mixa Vision
Mixa Vision’s Mixa École mixed reality software combines holographic glasses and 5G connectivity to revolutionize the remote music lesson experience. Students can choose their instrument, access a vast online repertoire of scores and interact naturally with their teacher, who controls the progress of the session. Each artist is free to practice from any location, with no physical constraints.
Reussito, with HEC Montréal and UQTR
With the support of HEC Montréal and the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR), Videns Analytics has developed Reussito, a user-friendly pedagogical decision-support tool for schools. This innovation uses AI to analyze a vast amount of data on students’ learning, behavior and social situations. The information is then presented in tabular form to multi-disciplinary teams in educational establishments, so as to promote young people’s academic success and provide them with better support throughout their career.
Qohash
In collaboration with several financial institutions, Qohash has developed a data security platform capable of monitoring the vast amount of critical information circulating daily in the institutions’ technological ecosystem. In just a few minutes, automation and AI are able to prepare the reports that security analysts depend on, in particular to determine the presence of risk and spot unusual behavior.
