CScience was today at the Computer Research Institute of Montreal (CRIM) to cover the launch of its NUMERIA program, designed to help Quebec SMEs in carrying out artificial intelligence (AI) projects.
From digital to AI. This is what we could hear today during the launch of the project at CRIM, an organization made up of experts and researchers in advanced digital technologies, AI and information technologies.
Aiming to be accessible and simple, the NUMERIA program seeks to adapt to the reality of companies by supporting them in the implementation of concrete solutions in AI.
“We want companies to be able to equip themselves to gain in competitiveness and productivity. Fanny Leroux, support, business and partnership advisor at the Computer Research Institute of Montreal (CRIM)
A THREE-PART PROGRAM
NUMERIA is divided into three parts: answering questions about AI, developing skills and analyzing data.
How can artificial intelligence help companies achieve their goals? What would be the added value to a company? Do companies have enough data to start their project? Through three simple steps, NUMERIA offers a complete journey to provide precise and specific answers to entrepreneurs’ questions.
“We are here to help and support companies in setting up processes to increase knowledge in AI. We want companies to be able to equip themselves to gain in competitiveness and productivity,” explains Fanny Leroux, support, business and partnership advisor at CRIM.
Thus, Quebec service providers will be able to benefit from concrete expertise in AI as part of personalized training in the form of mentoring. With the help of practice-oriented modules, companies can be directed to appropriate resources to optimize the success of their artificial intelligence project.
MAKING AI ACCESSIBLE IN A CONTEXT OF LABOR SHORTAGE
The desire to make AI accessible to everyone in a context of labor shortage is at the heart of the NUMERIA project. The program seeks to provide support in acquiring the skills necessary to carry out an AI project in an attempt to meet an increasingly growing demand for workers in the field of machine learning.
“The objective is to be able to offer training based on hybrid skills. A person from a biology course will thus be able to benefit from training in data science in order to be able to integrate the employment environment,” says Claudie Noël, project director at Montreal InVivo, one of the partner companies of the NUMERIA program.
To this, Françoys Labonté, President and CEO of CRIM adds that “Many people who graduate in Quebec leave to work for foreign companies. One of the least exploited talent pools concerns people who already work in companies with profiles in science, engineering or IT but who are not up to date with new practices around data. The idea is therefore to train them to meet very concrete needs observed in the field. »
