Tracking talk
ACOA funds local artificial intelligence software developer
An upstart Cape Breton company is hoping its digital software can help businesses and organizations determine the public’s level of trust in them in an ever-expanding digital world.
Orenda Software Solutions says its artificial intelligence software allows business leaders to understand how consumers view their brand by tracking related social media conversations.
Insight the software uncovers can help an organization to make informed business decisions.
“As a society we’ve always needed trust. We will always need it,” said Tanya Seajay, founder and CEO of Orenda Software Solutions Inc. “These aren’t fads or new measures.”
What is new these days is the way Orenda proposes to use artificial intelligence to track that trust, she said.
“How I describe artificial intelligence is all the stuff you don’t want to do, like go through millions and millions
of data points, have a computer do that for you, pull out what is important and then use that to provide insights for decision making.”
Twitter conversations around Apple when it recently admitted to slowing down its phones was one example Seajay cited as to how Orenda software can help.
She estimated millions of online conversations around Apple and its products at that time. Orenda software could quickly determine if trust in Apple is increasing or eroding by turning those conversations into simple to understand performance indicators.
“We’ve always been able to do that instinctively as individuals but now with social media and the huge amount of data coming at us at one particular time we need something else.”
Besides interpreting what people are saying online about an organization, Orenda software provides real-time alerts to subscribers when an issue affecting their brand requires immediate attention.
The data it delivers also provides specific brand analysis in key consumer categories.
On Tuesday, the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency gave the company a $200,000 repayable loan to continue to develop its real-time dynamic model.
“Who would believe we are taking the lead here on artificial intelligence, right here in Cape Breton,” said Mark Eyking, MP for Sydney-Victoria.
“We are really proud of them. It is great to see a small Cape Breton company doing big things in the country.”
Orenda is based in Membertou and also has an office in Toronto. Currently they have six staff members with plans to expand to 20.