MONTREAL — An announcement of new jobs that won't even fill a school bus isn't usually enough to warrant a visit from the federal industry minister, but 30 new jobs in artificial intelligence at a global high-tech company working on the latest wireless technology prompted excitement from the man who has science and innovation literally in his title, so Navdeep Bains paid a visit to Ericsson's new Montreal home on Thursday.
The wireless giant announced it is building what it calls a "Global Artificial Intelligence Accelerator innovation hub" based out of Montreal, which will work with similar teams around the world and in all the company's departments to find ways to use AI to make their tasks more efficient.
Speaking to reporters at the announcement, Bains highlighted the "endless possibilities that we can't even imagine" and the "strong foundation" that Canada has built as an information technology incubator. However, he also acknowledged concerns about data privacy, ethics and trust. "We must have trust — citizens must have trust — while still facilitating data-driven innovation for companies like Ericsson," he said, acknowledging that "we're giant piles of data that are going to be monetized by someone."
But when pressed on specifics by Cartt.ca, Bains didn't have any new assurances for Canadians who might be worried their data that might be shared around the world as AI is unleashed. This announcement of the hub doesn't relate to any specific new deal with the federal government, beyond existing funding programs it already has in place for this industry.
So the government hasn't imposed any requirements.
"We are looking forward to putting forward a data strategy," Bains told Cartt.ca, saying it would be announced in the coming months.
Until then, all companies are subject to the regulations in the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act.
Chinese wireless tech giant Huawei under increased scrutiny these days, with many wondering if Canadian telecom providers should use its technology and risk the Chinese government getting overt or covert access to our data. If Huawei is excluded, Ericsson stands to benefit the most. Though Ericsson is based Sweden, it also has dealings and manufacturing with China, including a new partnership with China Unicom to develop an AI lab there.
Bains pointed out public safety minister Ralph Goodale is overseeing the government's look at Huawei, but said the concern is not just about one company. "It's about what we can do to protect Canadians, what we can do so that Canadians' information is private and confidential."
Nimish Radia (right), who heads Ericsson's AI operations in North America, said the Montreal team will work as "part of the global team" and have "an impact on our entire portfolio." The 30 workers, of whom an initial team is already in place, will work with universities, other technology companies and customers — telecom providers like Bell, Rogers, Telus and Videotron — to "bring out the assets and value to further the mission we have,” said Radia.
Some of that work will be particularly useful as wireless providers begin to roll out 5G wireless networks and make more use of the Internet of Things. One AI Project demonstrated in the Montreal "garage" involved predicting when wireless networks are about to fail or degrade to an unacceptable performance level and assist operators in finding solutions to problems even before they happen.
Montreal was chosen for the hub partly because of its four universities and high population of university students, particularly in science. But Radia acknowledged with a shortage of high-tech labour in the province, growing the team will be a challenge. "It is a fight for the talent, however we believe the reason we're able to hire is that we have interesting and challenging problems to solve," he said. "We have a large amount of data."
Asked about data security, Radia said it is also up to the telecom companies to ensure personal data is protected. "We work with our customers in terms of data security and policy. Our customers have made sure that user privacy and user rights are protected. We rely on collaboration with our customers."
Radia also pointed out that the telecommunications industry "has a pristine record" on privacy.
Cartt.ca also asked Bains about the next wireless auction of 3500 MHz spectrum, but there is nothing new to report. The Ministry is still studying and the auction will happen in 2020.
Photos by Steve Faguy.
