Insightful two days at the Spain-Canada Summit in Toronto!
The event, opened by the Economy and International Trade ministries from both nations (Carlos Cuerpo and @Maninder Sidhu), underscored the growing partnership between Spain and Canada, particularly in technology and infrastructure.
💡 Day 1: Infrastructure & Digital Twins
A highlight was the roundtable moderated by Elisa Carbonell (CEO of ICEX), featuring Mark Kleefeld (Deputy Minister of Infrastructure, Alberta) and Angela Clayton, CPA ICD.D (CEO, Infrastructure Ontario). They strongly emphasized the need for rapid and safe deployment in transportation, mobility, and telecom infrastructure, with technology at the core.
Both leaders stressed the importance of adopting AI, but the statement that resonated most with BeChained was the critical need to deploy DigitalTwins alongside the digitization of both old and new infrastructures.
Mr. Kleefeld pointed out that citizens will benefit more from foundationalAI than from “moonshot projects.”
👉 This perfectly aligns with BeChained’s vision: developing industrial process digital twins with embedded energy optimization and/or predictive maintenance capabilities.
The afternoon showcased a vibrant mix of corporate, startup, and SME presentations, sharing AI use cases ranging from cybersecurity and mobility payments to extreme climate prediction (a necessary topic, inspired by the Valencia tragedy).
🤖 Day 2: Canada’s AI Vision at Vector Institute
The visit to the Vector Institute was highly informative. Born in 2017, the institute was created to drive excellence in Canada’s knowledge, creation, and use of AI for economic growth. It was propelled by eminent leaders, including @Geoffrey Hinton, often referred to as a “Godfather of AI” and winner of the 2018 Turing Award.
🔑 Key Takeaways for Long-Term Growth:
🥇 Political Alignment: A multi-year government plan to be at the forefront of AI development signals strong political alignment and vision with business needs and basic citizen benefits.
🥈 Long-Term Investment: Investment in AI and infrastructure is being made with a long-term vision that transcends typical political mandates.
🥉 Digitization is Key: The imperative to develop digital twins of infrastructure to monitor and control systems is crucial and will deliver common public benefits.
For BeChained, the next concrete steps are clear: forge strategic partnerships with key industrial players and help them align with this overarching digital and infrastructure transformation plan.
