Princeton representatives joined Gov. Phil Murphy and the New Jersey delegation on a recent trade mission to Canada to explore cross-border economic opportunities between the state and the provinces.

Sacha Patera and Ben Kim of Strategic Partnerships and Engagement traveled to Toronto and Montreal in September and met with representatives of four organizations involved in artificial intelligence.

The organizations were:

• Mila, the Quebec Artificial Intelligence Institute, a community of scientists and interdisciplinary teams committed to advancing AI for the benefit of all.
• ScaleAI, an AI company looking to solve industry’s business challenges to increase productivity.
• IVADO, a consortium of the research community, organizations and institutions, led by the University of Montreal with four university partners, “to develop and promote a robust, reasoning and responsible AI.”
• Innovobot, a Montreal-based investment and acceleration group for innovation-based startups.

Patera said the meetings provided valuable insights into the AI landscape in Canada and how its federal and provincial governments fund it. “The trip enabled us to think of ways to engage these Canadian entities with New Jersey,” she said.

Among the agreements to emerge from the governor’s trade mission was that BIOQuébec, BioNJ and Choose New Jersey signed a memorandum of understanding that aims to enhance cooperation and collaboration between the life sciences sectors in Québec and New Jersey.

In recent years, Princeton representatives have joined Gov. Murphy on trade missions to several countries, including an East Asia journey last fall. Princeton Innovation Officer and Vice Dean for Innovation Craig Arnold accompanied the governor on a trip to San Francisco in April, and he and other Princeton staff plan to travel with a state delegation to India in December.

These trips, part of Princeton’s commitment to help develop the New Jersey economic ecosystem, often result in follow-up meetings, agreements and collaborations involving the University. Kim said he expects that Princeton and IVADO representatives will soon follow up from the Canada trip.