Canada has developed strong capabilities over the years, and combining these with the opportunities and talent in India creates an “amazing opportunity” in artificial intelligence (AI), the leader of the country’s leading science and technology university has said.
Canada’s AI minister Evan Solomon will participate in the AI Impact Summit in New Delhi, which begins on Monday. The University of Waterloo’s president and vice-chancellor Dr Vivek Goel will also be present.
Often compared to MIT, the university in Ontario is a leading institution when it comes to science and engineering. Goel said that AI collaboration will benefit both countries.
“Bringing some of the strengths that Canada has developed over the last few years alongside of the opportunities with the talent and drive that exists in India, I think, represents a very amazing opportunity for both countries,” he told the Hindustan Times.
The objective is combining Canada’s strength in foundational research and governance with India’s scale, talent pipeline and ability to deploy solutions quickly
The university was a partner for the official pre-Summit AI event held in Toronto last month. Among the applications made for partnership was in the field of health, Goel said.
“India has a very large population and has needs to improve accessibility of health care services for its population in remote areas, in rural areas. And in Canada, we’ve been developing tools in some of those areas, again, because we have remote northern communities as well. And we can work together on developing those sorts of AI models and collaborate, bring some of the work that’s been done in Canada,” he pointed out.
There are several other such opportunities. Last month, Waterloo launched a programme on AI for chief technology officers of businesses, with a partner in India. The programme will be online and comprise short sessions for such executives from a range of industries in India.
“So that’s one area is we can help with the training, reskilling and upskilling that’s going to be required in workplaces,” Goel, who was born in Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh, said.
The university is also looking at the opportunity to do partnerships with institutions in India to deliver some of its academic programmes, degrees or short courses, to students in India.
Goel visited India in the fall of 2024, possibly the first leader of a major Canadian research university to do so after ties cratered as Ottawa accused New Delhi of being potentially linked to the killing of pro-Khalistan figure Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, British Columbia, on June 18, 2023.
However, with the United States and China dominating AI, Goel stressed that cooperation between India and Canada attains even more importance. “I think in the long term, the question of trust is as much about how much do we trust those providers for the countries from which they’re coming. And so I think it’s essential that countries like India and Canada ensure that they’re building trust with each other in this rapidly changing global geopolitical environment,” he said.