Digital Is currently partnering with local businesses, healthcare providers, industry, and local communities in Prince George. To date, they have invested $1,060,000 in companies like UNBC CTAAN, SparkGeo and Deadwood Innovations.
The Canadian company partners with more than 1,200 organizations Canada-wide including major multi-national corporations, small startups, and academic organizations like universities and government not-for-profits.
One of the first projects Digital supported was based in Prince George, that company being SparkGo.
Digital worked with SparkGo on developing a database of satellite images under the project Earth Data Store.
This project has been essential in developing a database of wildfire damages that has been used for payouts for wildfire insurance. The company has recently grown into a multi-national company with an office in the UK.
Digital also also worked with Deadwood Innovations and has partnered with them in building mass timber homes, which are designed to be quicker to build and more affordable for people living in rural areas, including First Nations communities.
The company's investment in Deadwood and Can4 has not only brought jobs and more opportunities for the community but has supported the development of Prince George's natural resources, Digital states.
“We're excited that we were able to bring to the community," explained Nadia Shaikh-Naeem, Digital's vice-president of programs. ”Bringing in that sort of ambition and tenacity has been great. There's a lot to be said about communities that are not always thought of immediately when it comes to innovation because they can do a lot more with a lot less.”
Digital has also invested in a local "living" lab at the University of Northern BC that specializes in elder care and developing solutions for caregivers and seniors in the North. The Centre for Technology Adoption for Aging in the North (CTANN) specializes in bridging the gap between technology, caregivers, and seniors living in Northern BC. Their projects include everything from the advancement of long-term care to bringing better care to rural seniors to even indoor gardening projects.
Recently Digital has partnered with Swift to bring advanced AI-based wound treatment to seniors in Prince George. This allows better cataloguing of injuries, communication with doctors, and better at-home care with the information provided.
“Everything that we do to try to bridge the technology gap," said Dr. Richard McAloney, director of CTAAN. “There are people that live in northern and rural areas and there are great technologies around the world. How do we connect those? It usually requires an extra level of research or evidence and that's where we come in. At CTAAN we bridge that gap, we're part of a project that supports Co-investment through Digital. We are trying to introduce Swift and find out if it would be useful for people in our region.”
SWIFT is especially useful for rural areas as it allows better communication with medical professionals without the long drive. It provides a much more accurate picture of a patient's recovery than a simple phone call and it allows doctors to see images and updates from the patient seamlessly.
