An ICTC Study
Building Canada’s Future AI Workforce
Published by ICTC, March 2021
Two cornerstones of any G7 nation are finance and healthcare: one reflects the economic health of the nation, the other health of its citizens. Recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI) applied in these areas show incredible potential for innovation–better customer and patient engagement, employee empowerment, greater operational efficiencies, and industry transformation. Accompanied by cloud computing, big data analytics, cybersecurity, and internet-of-things (IoT), AI is but one of many tools driving digital transformation. Its role is to operationalize the growing stockpiles of information increasingly available across all industries.
Within this context, a crucial requirement is the ability of a country to create and sustain a trained workforce that can lead its industries to flourish. The COVID-19 pandemic has exerted a paradigmatic shift in the workplace, with the emphasis on remote work (and work-from-home) accelerating both digital growth and adoption. At the same time, the negative impact of economic shutdowns has made it necessary for businesses to adopt new ways to optimize operations and making the workforce more effective. AI technology stands to play a pivotal role in the success of this realignment.
In this comprehensive report, ICTC explores the support needed for Canada’s digital workforce to acquire AI skills through various training pathways: broad upskilling initiatives to target widely needed digital skills and strategic cross-training programs to address acute needs like those in the field of AI. The use of AI in healthcare and financial services requires highly experienced teams comprised of individuals with graduate-level education (e.g., either master’s or doctorate levels) in AI, business, and domain-specific knowledge. A key finding in this report is the knowledge gap that exists between each of these subgroups on AI product development teams. In the healthcare and financial services industries, it is often the case that domain experts, AI/ML experts and business strategists lack a common understanding of each others areas of expertise, reducing their ability to collaborate effectively on AI products. Grounded in interviews with industry leaders in AI, in the financial services and healthcare sectors, this report proposes two new methods of skills training: targeted cross training between AI, business, and domain experts; and mentorship and support programs.
Researched and written by Dr Peter J. Taillon (Senior Data Analyst), Mairead Matthews (Research and Policy Analyst), Rosina Hamoni (Research Analyst), and Olivia Lin (Junior Data Analyst), with generous support from the ICTC Research & Policy team.
Designed by Raymond Brand.
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