CDN Top Newsmaker: AI advocate Tony Lacavera

Tony Lacavera is putting his money where his mouth is.

The former Wind Mobile CEO sits on the board of startup-funding charity Next Canada, whose venture capital firm Globalive Communications Corp. is one of its leading financial backers of Artificial Intelligence. Lacavera’s initiative is called NextAI.

Lacavera framed the new artificial intelligence startup funding program, which so far has received $5.15 million in financial support from a series of high-profile donors including Royal Bank of Canada, auto-parts giant Magna International Inc., and Scotiabank, as the private sector’s contribution to such AI-friendly government — and education — backed organizations as the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR) and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), which he said had provided Canada with a “small but fleeting competitive advantage” in the field.

“Despite excelling on the research front, in recent years the AI brain drain has become more and more profound, as so much of our top talent leaves for Silicon Valley and beyond,” Lacavera said

Would you recommend this article?

Share

Thanks for taking the time to let us know what you think of this article!
We'd love to hear your opinion about this or any other story you read in our publication.


Jim Love, Chief Content Officer, IT World Canada

Featured Download

Eric Emin Wood
Eric Emin Wood
Former IT World Canada associate editor turned consultant with public relations firm Porter Novelli. When not writing for the tech industry enjoys photography, movies, travelling, the Oxford comma, and will talk your ear off about animation if you give him an opening.

Related Tech News

Featured Tech Jobs

 

CDN in your inbox

CDN delivers a critical analysis of the competitive landscape detailing both the challenges and opportunities facing solution providers. CDN's email newsletter details the most important news and commentary from the channel.