Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, July 25, 2024 – The Canadian Agri-Food Automation and Intelligence Network (CAAIN) today launched its fourth open competition, a $6M initiative designed to foster advances in a sector of critical importance to our socio-economic wellbeing and environmental sustainability.
“Our team is pleased to unveil this opportunity to further support the country’s agricultural industries, especially with respect to activating private investment in Canadian innovation and emphasising artificial intelligence” said CAAIN CEO, Darrell Petras, P.Ag. “In almost four years of formal operation, we have approved 35 projects whose combined total value exceeds $100 million. Even more exciting than the investment implications are the new technologies and knowledge that are emerging, the partnerships we’re facilitating, and the multisector bridges we’re building. These have long-term implications with respect to the productivity, profitability, sustainability, and global competitiveness of our country’s agri-food industry.”
CAAIN’s mandate from Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada is to fund technological responses to the most significant opportunities and challenges facing the nation’s agri-food producers and primary processors. That means supporting promising efforts with the potential to provide economic or environmental value. The program announced today demonstrates CAAIN is doing just that.
“We hope to attract proposals from agri-food and technology entrepreneurs and researchers looking to solve complex problems,” explained Mr. Petras. “While we are casting a wide net in terms of the type of advances we will support, our particular focus is on data-driven solutions. We live in a time of rapid change, and now, more than ever, it is incumbent on us as a society to encourage our risk-takers and out-of-the-box thinkers.”
Details of this program are available online at https://caain.ca/funding-calls/2024-open-competition. Descriptions of the projects we have funded are available online at https://caain.ca/our-projects/. To join our free online agtech community, go to https://network.ca.
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The Canadian Agri-Food Automation and Intelligence Network (CAAIN) is a not-for-profit company launched in July 2019 with funding of $49.5‑million from the Government of Canada’s Strategic Innovation Fund, and assistance from Alberta Innovates in the form of significant in-kind contributions. CAAIN drives collaborative agri-food technology research and innovation from coast to coast.
| Project Funding Inquiries Darrell Petras, P.Ag. CEO Canadian Agri-Food Automation and Intelligence Network darrell.petras@caain.ca |
Media Inquiries Eric Morin, CMP Manager, Communications and Marketing Canadian Agri-Food Automation and Intelligence Network 780.405.3742 | eric.morin@caain.ca |
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