Amii and Protein Industries Canada announce the launch of the Data Readiness Improvement Program (DRIP), a national training program focused on supporting companies to increase their AI literacy and preparedness in Canada’s plant-based food, feed, and ingredients sector.

“Artificial intelligence is one of the most important tools of our time,” said Cam Linke, CEO of Amii. “Amii has a proven track record working in agriculture. This partnership is an exciting opportunity to work with Protein Industries Canada to offer our world-leading expertise at the intersection of agriculture and machine learning to plant-based companies nationwide. Participants will learn how AI can help them gain a better understanding of their data, improve productivity, optimize production, and empower their teams with in-demand AI literacy skills and tools — giving companies a leading edge in a rapidly growing and competitive sector.”

The DRIP program will be held as two virtual, three-month AI training and foundation-building cohorts of approximately five companies. Amii provides expertise, including curriculum specific to Canada’s plant-based sector, and the opportunity for participating companies to identify specific business problems and how artificial intelligence can help solve them under the guidance of interdisciplinary teams. Participants will emerge from the program with a validated project that includes established trajectories for solving a specific business problem using artificial intelligence. Upon completion, companies will be well-positioned to undertake successful ML development projects further supported by the Protein Industries Canada Artificial Intelligence Program.

“There’s an opportunity for artificial intelligence to help Canada’s plant-based companies reach the sector’s sustainability and economic goals, and the best way they can do that is to ensure they have the proper tools, skills and talent in place to properly utilize such technology,” said Protein Industries Canada CEO Bill Greuel. “Our new Data Readiness Improvement Program can help them foster those skills within their current employees while preparing to bring a new, valuable technology into their workflow.”

DRIP is currently open to enrolment, with the first cohort launching in autumn 2023.

As an experienced leader in AI research and industry adoption, Amii has empowered companies to leverage machine learning to help them grow their internal capabilities and accelerate and de-risk their AI adoption goal to achieve new competitive advantages.

About Amii

One of Canada’s three centres of AI excellence as part of the Pan-Canadian AI Strategy, Amii (the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute) is an Alberta-based non-profit institute that supports world-leading research in artificial intelligence and machine learning and translates scientific advancement into industry adoption. Amii grows AI capabilities through advancing leading-edge research, delivering exceptional educational offerings and providing business advice – all with the goal of building in-house AI capabilities. For more information, visit amii.ca.

About Protein Industries Canada

Protein Industries Canada is an industry-led, not-for-profit organization committed to positioning Canada as a global source of high-quality plant-based food and ingredients. Protein Industries Canada, along with industry, has committed more than $485 million to the Canadian plant-protein sector. For more information, visit proteinindustriescanada.ca