Artificial intelligence enables companies to optimize their performance, stand out in the marketplace and stay one step ahead of the competition. The Centre de recherche informatique de Montréal (CRIM) is here to help.
As a hub for artificial intelligence, Montréal has developed cutting-edge expertise in just a few years, supported by an increasingly effective ecosystem that spans fundamental research, incubation, financing and commercialization. At the heart of this rapidly expanding field, the Centre de recherche informatique de Montréal (CRIM) plays a leading role in developing innovative technological solutions, tailor-made for local companies wishing to integrate AI into their business model.
Taming AI
Even though Montreal is a center of excellence in AI, local companies are slow to invest in this field. Why this reluctance? The complexity of the subject, the lack of in-house expertise and the challenges of implementation certainly have something to do with it. And that’s where CRIM comes in. A non-profit organization whose mission is financially supported by the Ministère de l’Économie et de l’Innovation du Québec, CRIM brings together some sixty researchers, experts, consultants and developers who put scientific knowledge to work for industry. They form a true center of excellence in AI, data science and software architecture, and offer coaching, applied research and experimental development to meet the needs of every company. “Together, we form a solid team of top-level professionals serving Quebec organizations,” explains Mathieu Barreau, Director, Business, Communications and Partnerships at CRIM.
In concrete terms, CRIM offers tailor-made solutions to meet the specific needs of SMEs, helping them to evaluate and organize their data and develop strategic projects. An approach that gives them a competitive edge in the marketplace.
Tangible results
Examples of successful collaborations over the years abound. We had a great experience with the team at UEAT, an online ordering platform for the catering industry, who wanted to integrate intelligent meal recommendation into their offer,” points out Mathieu Barreau. We worked on optimizing their IT tool and, according to the company’s CEO, the impact of our intervention saved them three years of development in just three months.”
CRIM also has a collaborative dimension – on a national and international scale – dealing with major societal issues, such as global warming. We have worked with the Ouranos regional climatology innovation cluster and participated in the development of the climatedata.ca platform,” continues Mathieu Barreau. The latter project, which makes terrestrial climate data accessible to decision-makers, enables them to carry out well-documented simulations and predictions.”
A program to understand everything
This April, CRIM will launch the NUMERIA (From Digital to AI) program to help Quebec SMEs overcome the challenges of a first AI project. Offered in three simple steps, the program answers their questions about AI, helps them develop skills internally through mentoring and knowledge transfer, and guides them in evaluating the data they have. Data is the fuel of AI,” says Mathieu Barreau. At CRIM, we are able to process all types of data – speech, audio, text, image, video – structured and/or unstructured, which is extremely rare. This enables us to put our expertise to good use, and provide potential solutions for the majority of projects submitted to us.”
*Article published on Le Dévoir
