The Pulse: Sept. 6, 2022

Alberta has an opportunity to modernize its laws in a way that makes valuable data more accessible to innovators and entrepreneurs without breaching privacy, say proponents of the innovation economy.

The growth of the data sector comes with rising concerns about personal data. How much is out there? Where is it? Who has it? And what is it being used for? But the harvesting and monetization of personal data that sustains tech giants like Google and Meta, and prompts consumer wariness to lax data and privacy laws, has little to do with the research-friendly data environment envisioned by Reg Joseph, CEO of Health Cities.

"The opportunity around commercialization and economic growth is not — can I repeat? — not about selling data. That is not what we want to do, because actually, it doesn't make sense to do it. It's selling the golden goose," Joseph stressed.

Instead, Joseph said, the province needs to create an environment where the government can work with parties such as academics or industry to unleash the wealth of data in municipal archives or health records while ensuring proper checks and balances are followed to protect the information of individuals from being exploited.

Earlier this year, Service Alberta Minister Nate Glubish signalled the province was considering amending and modernizing existing privacy legislation, in part to make more data accessible to innovators and entrepreneurs. The province announced plans to implement a strategy to "enable data-driven innovation and economic diversification" as part of its 2022 budget, but the details have yet to be released.

In 2021, Ontario announced the creation of Canada's first data authority, an independent entity that acts as a steward of provincially collected data. The data authority will provide researchers, municipalities, and others with "secure and reliable data sources" while setting standards for how it is managed and used.

This is a model that could be co-developed with innovators for Alberta, said Bronté Valk, the Edmonton-based government relations manager for the Council of Canadian Innovators.

"If government is sitting at the table with innovators, and they're developing, and setting the right sort of data standards, and they have this independent data authority that's managed by data experts, I think you're not going to run into those issues of companies taking advantage citizens' data and misusing that sort of data," said Valk, who wrote a piece earlier this year calling data "Alberta's new fuel."

• Students are back in classes, which means the city is reminding everyone to adhere to the 30 km/h speed limit around schools and park legally when picking up kids. The city has also updated its ETS plan to offer timed routes for specific schools and School Special buses to supplement regular routes.
• Some Edmontonians have been impacted by gaps in ETS services since updated schedules were rolled out in spring 2021. Recently, a Rutherford resident spoke up about at-capacity buses not stopping for children on their way to Dr. Anne Anderson School, which has doubled in size since last year. Coun. Jennifer Rice said she has heard complaints about bus service in Ward Ipiihkoohkanipiaohtsi and wants to see improvements.
• Edmonton's largest organics processing plant, the already-over-budget Anaerobic Digestion Facility that opened in 2021, requires an additional $6.7 million if it hopes to produce quality compost and limit the amount of litter it produces, according to a business case from July. The facility was originally designed to work with screening equipment at the Edmonton Composting Facility, which was shut down in 2019 for safety reasons. Now, material arriving for digestion is filled with garbage that makes its way to adjacent wetlands, and the compost produced is used to line the dump. City council is slated to hear a staff report about the issue on Sept. 12.
• Numbers from the city's open data portal show that around 575,000 speeding tickets were given to Edmonton drivers between January 2019 and March 2022, with the top three locations being sections of Stony Plain Road, Anthony Henday Drive, and Yellowhead Trail. The province currently has a moratorium on municipalities installing more photo radar equipment, which has been extended to December 2022.
• Home sales continue to fall in the Edmonton area, according to a Realtors Association of Edmonton (RAE) report. August saw an 8.3% decrease in residential unit sales compared to July. August also saw a 12% year-over-year fall in home sales compared to 2021. Home prices have decreased across the board, but single-family homes are still more expensive than they were this time last year. "While we continue to see the Edmonton real estate market cooling down after a record-breaking period earlier this year, there is still a fair amount of activity happening," said RAE chair Paul Gravelle.
• After months of negotiations, around 400 security screeners at the Edmonton International Airport voted to ratify a new collective agreement with their employer GardaWorld, the firm contracted by the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority. The deal results in a 12% raise over two years plus signing bonuses.
• An online survey by Pollara and the University of Alberta research group Common Ground found that the majority of Albertans disagreed with the "Freedom Convoy" in Ottawa. Of the 2,224 people surveyed, 61% said they opposed the convoy's objectives and 67% said they opposed how it tried to achieve its objectives. In Edmonton specifically, 70% of respondents opposed the convoy's objectives, compared to 53% in areas outside the Calgary-Edmonton corridor and in Red Deer. Among UCP supporters, 56% said they supported the convoy's goals and 48% said they supported its methods. Only 23% of all respondents believed the protest was successful. While researchers conclude that convoy supporters were a "vocal minority" that did not change many minds, assistant professor Feo Snagovsky suggests they will have "an important role in Canadian politics moving forward."

Edmonton startups Edging AI, iClassifier, and Nu Terra Labs are among the eight early-stage companies from Alberta selected for the inaugural THRIVE Academy pre-accelerator program.

The THRIVE Academy is a 12-week agrifood pre-accelerator program for agtech startups that offers entrepreneurs tailored guidance, access to the Olds College Smart Farm, and more.

"The first cohort of the THRIVE Academy speaks volumes to the talent and innovation in the agrifood value chain in Alberta and across Canada," said John Cassidy, managing director of SVG Ventures|THRIVE in Canada.

Using artificial intelligence and computer-vision, iClassifier provides smart-farm capabilities to producers. Nu Terra Labs aims to make it easier for small and medium-sized producers to set up automated greenhouses and vertical farms.

Edging AI is working on a smartphone device that will help users detect bacteria with a simple scan. "We are looking forward to getting the training, guidance and coaching we need to grow our start-up to the next level," the company posted as it announced its selection.

Alberta Innovates is supporting the THRIVE Academy as part of its push to bring more accelerators to the province. A total of 15 companies are in the first cohort.

"We are very pleased to see such strong representation by Alberta tech companies in this cohort, along with companies from other parts of Canada and the world, because one of our goals with the accelerator program is to grow connections between innovators in our province and investors and businesses around the globe," said Alberta Innovates CEO Laura Kilcrease.

The program kicked off on Sept. 5 and runs until a demo day in mid-November.

Photo: Vertical farms like the one pictured are the focus for Nu Terra Labs. (Nu Terra Labs/Supplied)

Council has just two meetings scheduled for this short week following the Labour Day holiday. Executive committee will meet on Wednesday, and community and public services committee will meet on Friday.

Key items on the agenda include:

• Moving ahead with Phase 1 of the Edmonton Metropolitan Transit Service Commission plan, slated to begin in April 2023, would require an investment of at least $7.2 million from the City of Edmonton, which works out to 65,130 service hours annually or 48% of the regional network if all existing local service was kept as is. Alternatively, existing ETS service hours could be reallocated to the plan. Opening day service would consist of 11 regional service routes with inherited fare structures. Additional costs, such as for debt repayment and operational overhead, won't be known until October 2022.
• Administration recommends granting $17.6 million through the Affordable Housing Investment Program to fund four proposed developments that would result in 258 new units of affordable housing. Three are located in Griesbach, and one is located in Glenwood. If approved, future grants through the program would be on hold until the city's 2023-2026 budget is approved.
• Administration and the Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues have been discussing how to make the allocation of the three existing grants for community leagues more equitable. The new Community Parks Framework, which begins next year, is intended to ensure equitable access to community park amenities and could impact how community league infrastructure is built in the future.

As you return from the last long weekend of summer, you can take in some creativity while you wait for a train or a movie, get your communications plan ready for National Truth and Reconciliation Day, beef up your HR and website strategies, or connect with a city councillor.

• Sept. 6-9: Gotta Minute Film Festival at LRT stations, the Edmonton Public Library, the Metro Cinema lobby, and online (continues until Sept. 18)
• Sept. 8, 12pm: Strategies for planning for National Truth and Reconciliation Day, presented by pipikwan pêhtâkwan
• Sept. 8, 12pm: Global HR for Business, presented by Alberta Women Entrepreneurs
• Sept. 8, 1pm: Level Up Series: Websites that Work, presented by the Business Link
• Sept. 8, 4pm: Councillor Connect with Ward Karhiio's Coun. Keren Tang, presented by the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce

Find even more listings in Taproot's weekly roundups.

Photo: The Gotta Minute Film Festival features 30 silent short films, including ARIA by Ty Ferguson. (FAVA)