2024-03-06
Canada is a global leader in artificial intelligence (AI) research and development (R&D) but lags behind its peers in terms of high rates of foreign ownership of intellectual property (IP) generated by Canadians and low domestic demand for AI. The Scale AI Cluster, Canada's Global Innovation Cluster dedicated to supply chain AI, has taken an approach to intellectual property that both helps address these gaps and supports small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to scale-up. The Cluster is prioritizing investment in practical, business-ready IP, encouraging Canadian IP ownership and SME access to IP rights necessary for scale-up, and empowering SMEs to make informed IP strategy decisions, all of which are crucial to transforming Canada from an R&D powerhouse to an AI-fuelled economy.
The Scale AI Cluster's strategic approach has seen them delivering results:
- As of March 2023, 100 ecosystem projects funded, each with 100 percent of IP being Canadian-owned, and more than 90% developed IP that was deployed commercially by domestic businesses. This increases domestic appetites for more AI, and also demonstrates that the Cluster's investment approach is generating high-impact IP;
- All ecosystem projects—100 percent—generated IP that is available for SMEs to re-use beyond the original project scope to develop new products and attract new customers; and;
- AI SME members and project partners are receiving 1-on-1 IP strategy development support and training crucial to scale-up success; where just 9% of innovative Canadian SMEs have developed IP strategies.
This is clear evidence of the Scale AI Cluster's success in using IP to leverage results in Canadian AI commercialization.
Scale AI Cluster
- Impact:
- Intellectual Property
- Location:
- Pan-Canadian