We functionally do not have a legislated Access to Information system in Canada.
Federal departments face zero consequences for simply ignoring the rules. They are effectively allowed to only hand over documents if they feel like it. www.thestar.com/politics/fed...
Canadian tech advocacy group CCI argues that governments should take a similar 'buy Canadian' approach to #healthtech as it did for the Defence Industrial Strategy:
betakit.com/cci-wants-go...
Thanks to @dustyweb.bsky.social and Paige Saunders for being so generous with their time!
I got to hear from some of the architects and builders of the Fediverse at FediMTL in Montréal yesterday. I learned a ton about decentralized social media and how it's taken on newfound urgency with Canada's push toward digital sovereignty.
betakit.com/can-canada-f...
Talking about the Fediverse often feels like it merits a "stop trying to make fetch happen" response.
But at a recent conference in Montréal, advocates said figuring out how to build a decentralized web people will actually use is a must.
betakit.com/can-canada-f... by @madisonmcla.bsky.social
Such a good deep dive into Quebec quantum history
I joined @trondizzle.bsky.social on the @betakit.com Podcast to talk about an anonymous feedback report on Crown corporation BDC, and why it matters for Canadian tech.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngmk...
BC's Photonic is claiming that it teleported quantum information over 30km of Telus fibre-optic cable, as the company looks to make #quantum business-ready
betakit.com/photonic-cla...
The small-town paper in Tumbler Ridge is going to need support. This is its front page right now. Their subscription page is here:
www.patreon.com/tumblerridge...
Montréal's Haply Robotics has raised $16 million CAD from Sound Media Ventures, Amazon Industrial Innovation Fund, Hanwha Asset Management Fund, Two Small Fish Ventures, and BDC Capital.
The startup is building the "touch layer" of how humans and robots interact.
The federal government used AI to summarize its consultations with Evan Solomon's AI task force. We used a human reporter.
BetaKit's Josh Scott undertook a heroic effort to sort through all 348 pages of task force submissions. Here's his summary.
Resharing some fantastic @washingtonpost.com journalism in the wake of massive cuts there. What’s happening is awful and will certainly erode our information ecosystem.
Ok.
Super interesting interview:
Canadian bioeconomy companies are driving economic returns: 84 early-stage biotech firms generated nearly $900M in GDP over recent years, according to new data from Natural Products Canada.
Toronto's Alexi has escalated a legal fight with
Clio and its subsidiary Fastcase by filing a counterclaim that includes antitrust allegations.
Alexi claims the litigation has thwarted acquisition interest and forced it to lay off 2/3 of staff. #legaltech
I thought this was pretty cool
Canadian social media management firm Hootsuite is providing monitoring tech to the US government's immigration enforcement agency. Via @betakit.com reporter Josh Scott and myself. betakit.com/hootsuite-dh...
Researchers at Mila in Montréal are tackling one of the most concerning issues in #AI right now: chatbot-induced mental health crises.
It's also, Simona Gandrabur tells me, really difficult to get real-world data.
betakit.com/mila-researc...
"There’s a lot of money being invested ... with an assumption of having a walled garden. Ultimately, I don’t think that’s worked in the interest of the consumer."
Calgary fintech CEO @nicbeique.bsky.social on why he sees open finance as the future. betakit.com/helcim-takes...
It’s Legault-ver
SO COOL. Read my brilliant friend's research!!!
SSENSE founders' bid to buy back company successful, pending approvals
betakit.com/ssense-found...
If you were impacted by the closure and have more details to share, reach out over Signal at @madisonmcla.12
Full story here: betakit.com/ubisoft-hali...
The email Ubisoft sent employees on Jan. 7: "The catalyst for this decision is a shortage of viable work both immediately and in the forecasted future, resulting in the Halifax production team no longer having a justifiable mandate to maintain the continuation of the studio’s operations.”
More details on the Ubisoft Halifax @ubisofthalifax.bsky.social closure story: a former employee and union rep told BetaKit employees were "blindsided" by the closure, and that the majority of the team was working towards an "aggressive" February project deadline.
xAI's Grok chatbot has been creating non-consensual, sexually explicit images of women and children.
The patchwork of laws that cover the generation, hosting, and sharing of this material in Canada is messy at best. Via @betakit.com reporter @madisonmcla.bsky.social
betakit.com/groks-non-co...
