A digital supercluster of corporations and other businesses plan to spend millions of dollars to tackle problems caused by the coronavirus.
According to a press release, the Digital Technology Supercluster, a network of hundreds of businesses from across Canada, says it is investing $60 million to “deliver solutions to some of the biggest health and safety problems” created by COVID-19.
“Through innovation, Canadians will create and deliver leading technologies to overcome issues created by COVID-19 and to position us well to rebuild our economy in the future,” Sue Paish, CEO of the Digital Technology Supercluster, said in the release.
A month ago, the Supercluster called on its network of over 500 organizations to come up with ideas and submit proposals that would address issues stemming from COVID-19. Since then, over 300 submissions have been received by Canadian companies and are currently under review.
“Canadian businesses are answering the call to pull together and drive hard with solutions that will help us through the COVID-19 pandemic. We are deeply grateful to the hundreds of organizations that are answering this call, showing the world what a united ‘Team Canada’ can do,” Parish said in the release.
The release notes that since the Supercluster launched its COVID-19 program, four projects have been advanced and that they are making a meaningful contribution to the health and safety of Canadians.
One such project, is a collaboration between Vancouver-based start-up Variational AI and adMare BioInnovations. They are working to apply generative artificial intelligence to identify approved medications that can be repurposed to rapidly create treatment options for COVID-19 patients, according to the release.
“An effective therapeutic for COVID-19 may already be available today,” Handol Kim, co-founder and chief executive officer of Variational AI, said the press release, adding. “At Variational, we’re using our state-of-the-art generative artificial intelligence to rapidly find the best COVID-19 therapeutics among all these approved drugs so they can be tested in trials and delivered quickly to improve patient outcomes.”
The projects follow the launch of the COVID-19 Supply Hub, a partnership between the Province of British Columbia and the Supercluster that allows suppliers of critical supplies such as masks, gowns and ventilators, to be connected with health authorities across the province and dispatch needed supplies quickly.
More information about the Supercluster and their COVID-19 program can be found at https://www.digitalsupercluster.ca/new-covid-19-program/
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