Communitech announces $1-million tech prize

Leaders Prize at True North aims to spark innovation that uses artificial intelligence

Using artificial intelligence to solve a worldwide problem could get you a million-dollar prize.

Saying he wants to capture the imagination of Canadians and unleash a wave of innovation, a Toronto-based tech investor is making the new competition part of Waterloo region’s annual technology conference. David Stein made his fortune in technology after founding two software companies — Rypple and Workbrain. These days he is the co-founder and managing partner at Leaders Funds, a venture capital firm that specializes in software-as-aservice companies.

Last June, Stein attended True North, the annual technology conference organized by Communitech that attracted 2,200 people from more than a dozen countries. He was impressed.

Stein will launch the contest at the True North conference next June, making public the problem of global significance that must be solved using artificial intelligence and introducing the competitors. The winner or winners will be announced at the same gathering one year later. Stein even worked the name of the conference into the competition — The Leaders Prize at True North.

“The Leaders Prize at True North aims to solve a major problem with broad applicability, recognize leading AI talent within Canada, and inspire the next generation to pursue a career in technology,” Stein said in a news release.

“We expect that teams will be created from within our universities, our tech companies and from recent graduates,” he said.

The Leaders Prize at True North is a partnership between Communitech, Leaders Fund, the University of Waterloo and the Schulich Foundation.

“We are going to give everybody a year to work on this, it is going to be a substantive exercise,” said Iain Klugman, chief executive officer of Communitech.

There are two main rules — the competitors must live in Canada and they must use artificial intelligence to solve the problem.

The prize money will be provided by the Schulich Foundation. Founded by Seymour Schulich, the Toronto-based foundation has donated more than $350 million for scholarships, education and health care. It has also invested heavily in new technology.

“Canada needs more Seymour Schulichs,” said Klugman.

The genesis of the contest goes back to a lunch Klugman had with Stein last summer. Stein wanted to do something to get Canadians thinking about solving the world’s biggest problems.

“One of the tools that have to be used in this is machine learning and artificial intelligence,” said Klugman.