Connect with us

Technology

Canada invests in five networks to stimulate innovation in key emerging technology sectors

Published

on

OTTAWA, ON, March 13, 2025 /CNW/ – Since its launch in 2017, the Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF) has supported collaboration between businesses, research institutions and non-profit organizations to drive growth in key emerging technology sectors. It funds business-led projects in areas where Canada has an economic advantage, such as cleantech, life sciences, agriculture/agri-food, mining and aerospace. Over the years, SIF networks have supported over 750 small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) that have created over 1,200 jobs and attracted over $1.7 billion in investment.

Today, the Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, announced additional funding to five SIF networks to attract large-scale investments to Canada. This additional funding will give the high-performing networks the opportunity to strengthen their ecosystems and support additional projects, with a particular focus on growing SMEs in Canada:

The Canadian Food Innovation Network (CFIN) is receiving an additional $8.6 million to accelerate cutting-edge research and development in food processing and production technologies. Since April 2021, CFIN-funded companies have created over 350 new jobs and leveraged $21 million in private sector investment. The Canadian Agri-Food Automation and Intelligence Network (CAAIN) is receiving an additional $8 million to help agricultural producers and the agri-food value chain boost productivity through automation and artificial intelligence. Since July 2019, CAAIN has supported the creation and maintenance of over 500 high-quality jobs and leveraged $67.6 million in private-sector investment.The Clean Resource Innovation Network (CRIN) is receiving a $10 million investment to accelerate the development and adoption of innovative technologies and processes that aim to lower the oil and gas industry’s environmental impacts. Since July 2020, CRIN has supported the creation of over 200 jobs and leveraged $150 million in private sector investment.Natural Products Canada (NPC) is receiving an additional $5 million to accelerate the innovation and commercialization of products in the bioeconomy that support human, animal and plant well-being. Since August 2021, NPC has supported the creation of over 130 new jobs and leveraged nearly $15 million in private sector investment in its projects.The Mining Innovation Commercialization Accelerator (MICA) is receiving a $5 million investment to contribute to innovation and modernization efforts in mining, strengthen industry supply chains, and increase the domestic and export sales of new products. Since January 2021, MICA has created and maintained over 435 jobs and mobilized investments of approximately $170 million from the private sector.

Quotes

“Our government has long valued the expertise of the private sector and research institutions, which is why we launched SIF to drive innovation and strengthen the Canadian economy. By boosting investments in areas with a high performance record and with strong growth potential, we’re securing high-paying Canadian jobs and positioning our industries to thrive in the rapidly evolving technology landscape. We are positioning Canada as a global economic leader and paving the way for success for generations to come.”
– The Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry

“Investing in innovation means investing in good jobs, economic growth, and a more competitive Canada. This additional funding for Strategic Innovation Fund networks will strengthen key industries, drive technological advancements, and create new opportunities for businesses and workers across the country. By supporting collaboration between businesses and research institutions, we are equipping Canadian innovators with the tools they need to lead globally in clean tech, agri-food, mining, and beyond.”
–  Marc G. Serré, Member of Parliament for Nickel Belt, Ontario and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources

Quick facts

SIF has contributed nearly $1.1 billion to support 14 networks in key emerging technology sectors, which have in turn funded over 750 small and medium-sized enterprises through nearly 650 collaborative projects. These networks, listed below, have leveraged over $1.7 billion in additional funding from the private sector and other sources, attracted over 17,000 members to their respective innovation ecosystems and created over 1,200 jobs:Conscience Open Science Drug Discovery (OSDD) NetworkCentre of Excellence in Next Generation Networks (CENGN)Fabrication of Integrated Components for the Internet’s Edge (FABrIC)Canadian Medical Isotope Ecosystem (CMIE)Initiative for Sustainable Aviation Technology (INSAT)envisAGENatural Products Canada (NPC)Mining Innovation Commercialization Accelerator (MICA)Clean Resource Innovation Network (CRIN)Canadian Agri-Food Automation and Intelligence Network (CAAIN)Canadian Food Innovation Network (CFIN)Digital Health and Discovery Platform (DHDP)INOVAITEvolution of Networked Services through a Corridor in Quebec and Ontario for Research and Innovation (ENCQOR)

Associated links

Strategic Innovation FundNetworks: Strategic Innovation Fund

Stay connected

Find more services and information on the Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada website.

Follow Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada on social media.
X (Twitter): @ISED_CA | Facebook: Canadian Innovation | Instagram: @cdninnovation | LinkedIn: Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada

SOURCE Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Technology

Trip.com Group Sincerely Accepts Administrative Penalty Decision Issued by the State Administration for Market Regulation of the People’s Republic of China

Published

on

By

SINGAPORE, July 25, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Trip.com Group Limited (Nasdaq: TCOM; HKEX: 9961) today announced that it has received the administrative penalty decision issued by the State Administration for Market Regulation of the People’s Republic of China.

Trip.com Group sincerely accepts the decision and will adopt rectification measures in accordance with applicable laws and regulations to implement the decision’s requirements. The Company will strengthen its long-term governance mechanisms and strive to contribute to the sustainable development of the travel industry.

Trip.com Group’s management team will host a conference call at 8:00 AM U.S. Eastern Time on July 27, 2026 (or 8:00 PM Hong Kong Time on July 27, 2026).

The conference call will be available on Webcast live at: http://investors.trip.com.

All participants must pre-register to join this conference call using the participant registration link below:
https://register-conf.media-server.com/register/BIb78e08d8f18340c4882a7e4ab961906b.

Upon registration, each participant will receive details for this conference call, including dial-in numbers and a unique access PIN. To join the conference, please dial the number provided, enter your PIN, and you will join the conference instantly.

For further information, please contact:
Investor Relations
Trip.com Group Limited
Email: iremail@trip.com

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/tripcom-group-sincerely-accepts-administrative-penalty-decision-issued-by-the-state-administration-for-market-regulation-of-the-peoples-republic-of-china-302834599.html

SOURCE Trip.com Group Limited

Continue Reading

Technology

NAVER Partners with Brookfield and NVIDIA to Expand Korea’s National AI Factory Infrastructure Buildout

Published

on

By

SAN FRANCISCO, July 25, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — NAVER, Brookfield and NVIDIA announced an expansion of Korea’s sovereign AI factory infrastructure. New investments will increase the initial NVIDIA DSX™ AI factory deployment from 55 megawatts to 200 megawatts.

Announced during Korea President Jae Myung Lee’s AI Summit visit to San Francisco, the planned 200-megawatt expansion will be built with the NVIDIA DSX platform at NAVER’s GAK Sejong hyperscale data center in Sejong, South Korea. The expanded infrastructure will provide Korea- and U.S.- based AI innovators with access to production-scale AI compute for building next-generation models, agents and AI-powered services.

Under the terms of the agreements, Brookfield will fund up to $9 billion as the exclusive capital partner, NVIDIA will invest $1 billion and NAVER will fund the remaining amount to finance the $10 billion project.

This builds on NAVER’s June announcement to extend its GAK Sejong data center with NVIDIA DSX, with a long-term path to gigawatt-scale sovereign AI infrastructure serving Korea’s enterprises, industries, government organizations and global AI cloud customers. Combining Brookfield’s capital with NVIDIA’s computing platform, the investment supports NAVER’s AI factory deployment.

“NVIDIA’s strategic investment and our infrastructure supply agreement with Brookfield have propelled NAVER’s vision for the AI Factory business into a robust execution phase,” said Haejin Lee, Founder and Chairman of NAVER. “Leveraging the solid partnerships with our global partners, we will drive technological innovation, foster a sovereign AI ecosystem, and spearhead efforts to strengthen South Korea’s AI competitiveness.” 

AI Factory Expansion and Open Model Collaboration to Fuel AI Innovators

NAVER, as an NVIDIA Cloud Partner, provides deep expertise in operating hyperscale infrastructure powered by the full-stack NVIDIA AI platform. The 200-megawatt AI factory, featuring NVIDIA Vera Rubin and Blackwell platforms, will establish a dedicated resource pool for emerging AI companies, providing the compute, software and support needed to develop and deploy competitive AI models and applications at scale.

This expanded infrastructure also builds on NAVER and NVIDIA’s collaboration on open model development for agentic and physical AI. NAVER is advancing its HyperCLOVA X models to be based on NVIDIA Nemotron™ 3 Ultra open models with its proprietary data and training expertise. NAVER is also the first Korean company to join the NVIDIA Nemotron Coalition, contributing to open model development across pretraining, post-training and reinforcement learning.

NAVER plans to launch an AI agent platform in Korea in the second half of the year, powered by NVIDIA Agent Toolkit software including NVIDIA NemoClaw™ blueprints. NAVER is also developing a Seoul World Model using proprietary urban street-view and spatial modeling data, built on NVIDIA Cosmos™ world foundation models.

About NAVER

Founded in 1999, NAVER is Korea’s largest Internet company and one of the world’s top tech companies. Leading cutting-edge technologies, NAVER operates the No.1 search engine in Korea and holds various business portfolios encompassing commerce, fintech, cloud, AI and robotics.

NAVER recorded sales of KRW 12.04 trillion (USD 8.18 billion) in 2025. TEAM NAVER continues to enhance its business portfolio and expand its global presence across Japan, North America, and Europe, while pursuing innovation through continuous research and development in future technologies.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/naver-partners-with-brookfield-and-nvidia-to-expand-koreas-national-ai-factory-infrastructure-buildout-302834577.html

SOURCE NAVER

Continue Reading

Technology

Beijing Review: Walking Through Time: China and U.S. Youths Explore Dali’s Past and Future

Published

on

By

BEIJING, July 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — On July 17, a China-U.S. youth delegation came to Dali of Yunnan Province. By examining how Dali’s rich history intersects with modern development, the delegates explored new pathways for rural development.

They visited Dali Old Town, tried their hand at making the Bai people’s Three-Course Tea and also explored the ancient town of Xizhou, where they learned how modern tourism and indigenous life coexist.

In Yunnanyi Village, they explored its history as a stop along the Tea Horse Road and learned about the role it played during the Second World War (WWII).

Tyler James Smith

“I think it’s a very underappreciated part of World War II history. Hearing these stories of different countries working together despite cultural differences is incredibly inspiring.

I also think there are many stories like these that haven’t been widely told, simply because World War II is such a complex period in history. That’s why I think it’s so meaningful to visit museums like this and experience these stories firsthand.”

At Xiangyun Economic and Technological Development Zone, they visited a local new energy company to see how green, low-carbon development is driving regional growth.

Valerie Marie

“I recently started studying energy transitions. I know China has been really big in the renewable energy sector. So actually getting to hear more about [China’s] 2060 [pledge], learning more about carbon neutrality [goals], as well as other zero-carbon goals, was cool.”

During their stay in Dali, they also strolled along the Erhai Lake Ecological Corridor.

Bai Yiwen

“I’d describe this journey as “to be continued,” because my own connection with Yunnan is far from over. For the U.S. delegates, this was only their first visit, so they’ve only had a glimpse of what Yunnan has to offer. I hope they will have more opportunities to come back to China, explore other cities in Yunnan, and discover even more of its people, culture and traditions.”

After Dali, the delegates will visit Beijing for more tours and exchanges. The event was co-hosted by China International Communications Group (CICG) Center for the Americas and the U.S.-based International Student Conferences.

https://x.com/beijingreview/status/2080104404552663067?s=46&t=yfVMVdMyE2zKAFrYaLoV-g

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1EtGCCKzy4/?mibextid=wwXIfr

https://www.tiktok.com/@cachinachic/video/7665536913532587294?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7227134149436605995

https://youtu.be/jGONWTqwduc?is=KfL-Zn3HyVYE-KEm

Contact: Jiaweibellapeng@163.com

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/beijing-review-walking-through-time-china-and-us-youths-explore-dalis-past-and-future-302834587.html

SOURCE Beijing Review

Continue Reading

Trending