PhonIA-IVADO: collaborating to transform learning through AI

Montreal, Quebec, December 13, 2024 – Phonia Solutions Inc., a pioneering Quebec-based company in automated bioparameterization for the health, rehabilitation, and educational adaptation sectors, has greatly benefited from the significant collaboration of IVADO — a consortium dedicated to research, training, and knowledge mobilization in artificial intelligence. This partnership has helped establish lasting connections between PhonIA and Quebec’s AI research and development ecosystem.

Accelerating the identification of students at risk for reading difficulties by equipping schools with cutting-edge AI tools: this is the mission driving PhonIA. To bring this vision to life, the startup, founded by Jihene Rezgui, Christine Turgeon, Félix Jobin, and Cimon Chapdelaine, joined forces with IVADO to bolster its research and development efforts. Amid a growing demand and a shortage of professionals, particularly in speech therapy and special education, PhonIA’s innovative approach focuses on automating time-consuming and repetitive tasks. Powered by voice recognition and artificial intelligence, their first product aims to empower schools to better support young learners struggling with reading, helping them achieve their full potential.

With IVADO’s sustained and invaluable support in its pre-commercial research and development initiatives, along with backing from various funding programs, incubators, and mentorship opportunities, PhonIA has successfully completed its solution, making it accessible to schools across Quebec.

Specifically, the collaboration between the PhonIA and IVADO teams has been structured around several key areas:

• Specialized training on the legal aspects of AI to ensure compliance with data protection regulations and the security of biometric data processed by the solution;
• Strengthening collaboration with leading researchers, including Foutse Khomh, a professor of software engineering at Polytechnique Montréal and a globally recognized expert in machine learning systems engineering and reliable, trustworthy AI/machine learning;
• Strategic and operational support in securing research and development funding, particularly in collaboration with Mitacs, to ensure the advancement of the team’s scientific expertise;
• Identifying talented individuals who place their trust in the PhonIA team;
• IVADO’s support for PhonIA’s internationalization strategy, particularly through a mixed business mission (researchers and companies) to South Korea and Japan, which enabled the establishment of valuable initial connections in the Asian markets;
• The launch of a significant data collection across the entire Quebec school network to enhance the performance and robustness of our models (more information);
• The opportunity to join IVADO’s vibrant ecosystem, with participation in events, communities of practice, and more.

“During our first year of collaboration as an industrial member of IVADO, PhonIA significantly accelerated its progress, benefiting from invaluable insights and strong support from Quebec and Canada’s AI ecosystem. This partnership provided us with the opportunity to work alongside key stakeholders who played a crucial role in finalizing our solution and supporting the work of speech therapists and special education professionals in schools. This substantial backing has positioned us to adapt our solution for clinical speech therapy and rehabilitation practices. We are excited to embark on the second year of our collaboration with IVADO as we officially launch our solution,” said Cimon Chapdelaine, CEO of Phonia Solutions.

“Watching a company we support launch its product is always highly rewarding, especially when we consider the potential impact PhonIA could have on students with learning difficulties in Quebec, Canada, and beyond. Our goal is to provide strategic and operational support to help drive the missions of our partners, and PhonIA’s success is a perfect example of that. It’s truly exciting to see the overwhelmingly positive reception PhonIA is receiving in the market,” said Mariam Tagmouti, Technology Transfer and Innovation Advisor at IVADO.

After successfully launching its product in the fall of 2024, PhonIA enters its second year as an IVADO member. The company now aims to adapt its solution to meet the needs of clinical and rehabilitation environments, while also focusing on expanding its applicability to different linguistic contexts.

About IVADO: IVADO is an interdisciplinary, cross-sectoral research, training and knowledge mobilization consortium whose mission is to develop and promote a robust, reasoning and responsible AI. Led by Université de Montréal with four university partners (Polytechnique Montréal, HEC Montréal, Université Laval and McGill University), IVADO brings together research centres, government bodies and industry members to co-build ambitious cross-sectoral initiatives with the goal of fostering a paradigm shift for AI and its adoption.

About Phonia: PhonIA offers a virtual assistant for speech therapists, special education professionals, and other health and education experts. Using artificial intelligence and voice recognition specifically designed for speech therapy, PhonIA streamlines and accelerates the work of professionals, freeing up significant time for the benefit of the population. Our voice recognition solution leverages predictive AI to analyze the speech of individuals — both young and old — who have learning, cognitive, language, speech, or communication challenges. This initial step enables us to generate the analyses required for recommendations and assist in drafting professional documents. (Visit Vitrine IA Québec for more details).

For further information:

Les Solutions PhonIA
Cimon Chapdelaine
Chief Executive Officer
Les Solutions PhonIA Inc.
Cimon.Chapdelaine@phonia.io
Phone: 514-944-5954