February 18, 2025
IVADO and RSRIs Join Forces to Drive Adoption of Artificial Intelligence in Québec
Montréal, February 18, 2025 – IVADO, the artificial intelligence (AI) research, training and knowledge transfer and mobilization consortium, is now collaborating with Québec’s Regroupements sectoriels de recherche industrielle (RSRI, or sector-based industrial research clusters) to accelerate adoption of AI by Québec businesses through the PARTENAR-IA program. Following a successful start to the program, a new call for projects has been announced with a submission deadline of April 15, 2025.
This partnership aims to strengthen the PARTENAR-IA program of the Ministère de l’Économie, de l’Innovation et de l’Énergie (MEIE), the purpose of which is to help Québec businesses harness the power of artificial intelligence to enhance their competitiveness as well as gain a competitive advantage in the global marketplace. The MEIE is strongly committed to supporting the adoption of AI, and this initiative is an important component in the business assistance structure that the government plans to implement. By leveraging this critical innovation, the MEIE hopes to promote responsible development and rollout of AI in Québec.
IVADO is thus playing a catalyzing liaison role between the province’s Regroupements sectoriels de recherche industrielle (RSRI) and companies eligible for the PARTENAR-IA program. This partnership will enable them to benefit from IVADO’s distinctive expertise, developed through the R3AI project led by the consortium, which promotes deployment of AI that is robust, reasoning and responsible, and in line with the MEIE’s intention to make Québec a world leader in responsible, innovative AI that is a driver of growth and success.
End-to-end support and guidance for sustainable impacts through AI
PARTENAR-IA is aimed at companies of all sizes, regardless of their AI maturity level. This flexible program provides support and guidance to organizations throughout their innovation process, from structuring of projects to their implementation. Projects are developed as co-creations, involving at a minimum a small to medium-sized business (one to 250 employees) and a second business (of any size) with, preferably, a supporting organization with links to the Québec research ecosystem.
To that end, IVADO’s technology transfer and innovative advisors provide coaching to business on effectively structuring their project proposals and ensuring meaningful impacts. With nearly 120 industrial members and more than 600 collaborative research projects conducted since its founding, IVADO has developed one-of-a-kind capacities in support and guidance for AI projects and continues to build relationships with universities to help drive digital innovation within organizations.
The RSRI, as drivers of innovation across industry sectors, contribute unique and complementary expertise in strategic areas of the Québec economy such as health technology and aerospace. By combining their networks, IVADO and the RSRI are creating an environment conducive to the development of innovative AI-based solutions, the primary goal of which is to generate significant impacts for participating businesses.
Next steps for eligible businesses
The deadline for submitting project proposals is April 15, 2025. For more information about PARTENAR-IA, visit the IVADO website.
To learn more about the Regroupements sectoriels de recherche industrielle, go to the website https://rsri.quebec/.
Quotes
“This pooling of the RSRI and IVADO networks means that Québec will be able to count on the RSRI’s sector-based expertise along with that of the vital players in the province’s AI academic community that IVADO brings together. Not only will Québec businesses benefit from this extraordinary symbiosis, but university researchers will also reap rewards, transforming their knowledge and expertise into concrete economic and social benefits. I see the industrial networking and projects supported by PARTENAR-IA as genuine growth drivers for any company looking to tap the potential offered by artificial intelligence and the fact that Québec is a rich breeding ground in this area.”
– Nancy Laramée, Partnerships Director, IVADO
“The collaboration between the RSRI and IVADO will significantly ramp up implementation of artificial intelligence by Québec companies and in so doing stimulate economic progress here. The RSRI’s expertise across nine sectors, combined with that of IVADO, is creating a beneficial situation for everyone. It is beneficial to the RSRI and IVADO, but also and especially to any company wishing to develop and/or incorporate AI into its operations. Moreover, this partnership, in combination with the $124.5 million R3AI program, is solidifying the crucial and complementary role played by IVADO in Québec’s AI ecosystem. It is amplifying opportunities and fostering positive interactions within that dynamic ecosystem.”
– Alain Lavoie, Co-founder and CEO, Lexrock AI
“The partnership with IVADO to support the PARTENAR-IA program is enabling the creation of more projects with meaningful outcomes for players in the private sector as well as in research in Québec.”
– Liette Lamonde, Executive Director, PROMPT
“Using artificial intelligence in the design and manufacturing processes for new materials and in predicting their properties will help in positioning Québec’s advanced materials ecosystem. We are convinced that this partnership with IVADO will accelerate that positioning and enable developers of materials and manufacturing processes to remain competitive.”
– Marie-Pierre Ippersiel, President and CEO, PRIMA Québec
“Collaboration is at the core of our mission, and the complementary areas of expertise provided by IVADO and each cluster in the RSRI are leading to the establishment of more projects incorporating artificial intelligence in our respective strategic sectors.”
– Thierry St-Cyr, President and CEO, InnovÉÉ
“The MEDTEQ+ consortium is pleased to be continuing its close collaboration with IVADO to support ethical and responsible development of health technology powered by artificial intelligence. AI is being harnessed to empower people in prevention and management of their overall health, but also to support health professionals in the prediction, diagnosis and treatment of illnesses, leaving them more time to focus on areas where their added value is crucial. AI is not only enabling faster care pathways; it is also driving overall improvements to our health and social services systems, which currently face significant challenges, including the labour shortage and the aging population.”
– Annie-Kim Gilbert, President and CEO, MEDTEQ+
