We have identified five areas with significant economic opportunity to build on provincial strengths and prepare Alberta for the future.
Our funding programs, services, collaborations and initiatives are geared to advancing:
Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute
We are advancing the development and use of artificial intelligence (AI) as an enabling tool to create prosperity and make Albertans’ lives better.
We planted the seeds for Alberta to become a top centre for artificial intelligence with our early investments in Al in 2002. We continue to support it today through the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute (Amii). We also encourage business and industry to put AI to good use by supporting companies and projects.
Advancing clean resource technologies
We develop and invest in applied research and innovation programs to sustain, grow and diversify the energy and resource industries, and to protect our environment.
We are working with our partners in industry and post-secondary institutions to:
- Develop clean technologies, bioenergy and the circular economy.
- Develop renewable and alternative energy sources.
- Reduce greenhouse gas emissions and protect Alberta’s water, land and biodiversity.
- Support new and improved methods of extracting hydrocarbons through cleaner production.
- Support the development of innovative hydrocarbon products. This includes converting bitumen into valuable non-fuel products, and new methods to convert natural gas into new products.
- Advance homegrown capacity of technologies and products using rare elements and critical minerals like nickel, vanadium and lithium. These minerals are needed for electronics and energy storage and will enable Alberta to achieve emission reduction targets and net-zero goals.
- Strengthen economic diversification by using byproducts and residuals from forestry and agriculture to create bioproducts and biomaterials.
Find out more about some of our clean resource initiatives by browsing through this section.
Go to our funding section and check out our clean resource programs for detailed information about each program.
Digital health transformation
Our suite of health programs and initiatives harness the power of data and technology platforms across a wide range of activities.
We are focused on:
- Helping patients have better outcomes.
- Improving health systems to improve care and lower costs.
- Facilitating medical research and collaborating with other health organizations.
We also have support programs that contribute to economic diversification by commercializing health innovations.
Browse through the strategic initiatives section to find out more about our health-related activities.
Accelerating company growth and boosting entrepreneurs
In 2021 we introduced an initiative that was unprecedented for Alberta – the Scaleup Growth and Accelerator Program (Scaleup GAP) – to vault small and medium enterprises into big, successful companies.
We also have a range of programs and supports to create a strong entrepreneurial ecosystem, and to help entrepreneurs take their innovative ideas from whiteboard to market:
- Visit our Innovation Ecosystem page to learn how we boost entrepreneurs and support networks at the local, regional and provincial level.
Advancing smart agriculture
Agriculture is evolving from a traditional industry into an emerging tech area.
There are economic, environmental, and social benefits to making agriculture “smart” through automation, monitoring sensors, and other advanced tools. It allows Alberta and Canada to help feed a growing global population by enabling our producers to grow more food, more sustainably, on less land using fewer resources.
Alberta Innovates led the creation of a federally funded, national network based in Alberta (the Canadian Agri-Food Automation and Intelligence Network, or CAAIN).
We also support ag tech from field to fork through our own agri-food innovation programs and the Agricultural Funding Consortium of agricultural organizations.
Special Initiatives
Inventures
We’re putting Alberta on the map as a major hub for technology and innovation through our signature conference Inventures. This annual event draws thousands from Alberta, Canada and the world!
Ethics of Innovation
We’re shining a spotlight on ethics in the innovation process through this consortium. We developed this initiative to bring a critical component into the development of new technologies – the intentional inclusion of human values when technology innovations are being designed and implemented.
