Advancing Data and Digital Tools in Canada’s Agrifood Industry
Canada’s agriculture and agrifood industry is increasingly turning to digital tools to help meet the growing demand for plant-based protein. But while these tools are being developed at a rate that is beneficial to the industry, there’s a need to increase skills and knowledge among Canada’s workforce related to how to use them.
“Intelligent technologies like AI and machine learning provide an opportunity for optimization and increased productivity and sustainability,” Enterprise Machine Intelligence & Learning Initiative (EMILI) Managing Director Jacqueline Keena said. "There is an increasing need for technology skill sets in agriculture and we will need to continue to attract top talent to be successful. The more that we talk about and explain how AI and machine learning can add value across the agrifood value chain, the more we can build a diverse and highly skilled workforce.”
EMILI works to advance the uptake of digital tools—particularly those that utilize machine learning and artificial intelligence—across Canada’s agriculture and agrifood industry through a number of programs and initiatives. This largely involves a focus on Manitoba and the other Prairie provinces, through work on four strategic pillars: Innovation and Research; Intelligent Technology Integration; Skills Training and Talent Development; and Capital Enablement.
The organization’s drive to advance each of these pillars has led them to strategically partner with others across the country with a similar drive. This includes two Protein Industries Canada co-investments: the Explore Project with Actua and Agriculture in the Classroom (AITC), and the EMILI Data Initiative with Alberta Innovates.
"There is an increasing need for technology skill sets in agriculture and we will need to continue to attract top talent to be successful. The more that we talk about and explain how AI and machine learning can add value across the agrifood value chain, the more we can build a diverse and highly skilled workforce.”
The Explore Project focuses on introducing youth in Kindergarten through Grade 12 to the future career opportunities available to them in the digital agriculture, plant-protein and agrifood industry. So far it has engaged 7,500 students, particularly those from non-traditional backgrounds, through STEM activities related to digital agriculture.
The EMILI Data Initiative, meanwhile, is building capacity in Canada’s agrifood value chain through the use of data and new data-intensive technology, facilitating a positive culture of data governance and data stewardship in the sector.
“Both of these projects offer something valuable and cross-cutting to the industry,” Keena said. “[They] have value that accrues to the industry as a whole. There is a bit of a ‘rising tide lifts all boats’ mentality with each.”
Outside of their Protein Industries Canada projects, EMILI is expanding the industry’s digital agriculture footprint through initiatives such as their Agriculture Enlightened conference and their recent signing of an agreement with Bioenterprise to be the regional representative of Canada’s Agri-Food Tech Engine in Manitoba. The former allows the organization to bring together 250 attendees and speakers from around the world, helping spread a deeper understanding of digital agriculture and the agrifood sector. While the former works on a smaller scale, it has enabled EMILI to partner with three ag-tech start-ups, accelerating their growth and leading to a strengthening of their market footprint and the sector as a whole.
Finally, EMILI has also been working to advance its partnership with the University of Winnipeg under the UWinnipeg-EMILI Labelled Dataset Project.
“This is a great project that has been underway for the last three years, capturing tens of thousands of images of Prairie crops and weeds,” Keena said. “One objective of this project is to make a massive labelled dataset of accurately labelled prairie crops and weeds openly available to Canadian innovators, be it researchers or companies. We want to empower innovation in digital agriculture through access to this unique and foundational dataset.”
The EMILI team has plenty planned for the future of each of these initiatives and projects. To keep up with their progress and opportunities to take part, sign up for their newsletter or follow their Twitter or LinkedIn.
