Are you a tech startup that is starving for cash? Or are you an established company that is doing innovative research? How would you like to receive tens of thousands of dollars or hundreds of thousands of dollars in annual recurring incentives from the federal government?

In this episode of Techopia Live podcast, OBJ publisher Michael Curran interviews Matt Pearson, who helps lead EY’s tax incentive practice in Canada. Pearson has a Ph.D. in engineering physics, specializing in telecommunications. He is an inventor on 12 granted U.S. patents and an author of more than 50 published papers and conference presentations.

How startups can leverage SR&ED to boost cash flow and accelerate growth | Episode 267

In this episode of Techopia Live, OBJ publisher Michael Curran interviews Brian Kells, a corporate and securities lawyer from Perley-Robertson, Hill & McDougall, discussing the role of AI in the tech sector and its legal ramifications.

The following transcript has been edited for clarity and length.

TECHOPIA: Brian, can you share a little bit about yourself and what you do at Perley?

KELLS: I'm a lawyer at Perley-Robertson, practicing a broad range of corporate, and commercial securities laws, all different areas of law that are important to businesses in the Ottawa area. I've been practicing for about eight years now at Perley, and we're the largest independent firm in Ottawa. We have lawyers offering full-service scenarios, including employment law, intellectual property, commercial litigation, and real estate. Essentially, if you're a business in the Ottawa area, we're able to assist you.

TECHOPIA: Brian, technology evolution flows in these big waves, these giant trends.  There's a current wave, you might even call it a tsunami, that's artificial intelligence. Given your experience in corporate law, any general thoughts on where we're at in terms of AI these days?

KELLS: Technology does go in waves, and this one in particular is pretty exciting. I think AI has the potential to be very transformative. Already, it's incredibly useful. You're able to go on ChatGPT or other AI providers, and already it's providing value to people and you're able to use it, but we're just at the start of it. I think ChatGPT 3.5, or whatever came out about a year and a half ago, and we know they're already working on more advanced models. If you look forward a little bit, what they're shooting for is artificial general intelligence. If that were to come about, then it's going to open up a whole new wave of opportunity for businesses.

TECHOPIA: Brian, give us the dos and don'ts of AI?

KELLS: Some of my dos might be a little bit on the cautious side as well, being a lawyer, but I'll just let you know some of the things I think about when I'm using it and when clients come to us for advice. One of the big things, and we've already advised a few clients on this, comes from the perspective of when you're partnering with an AI provider to help train their model. The way these artificial intelligence models work is that they rely on really large data sets that they turn through to train their model so that then they can work on it. Some of these companies have been approaching businesses that have data themselves to run the program on it and to train on it. Anytime you're talking about that, if you're a business that has a lot of data, you have to consider Canadian data privacy laws.

For example, if you're an existing company with a large volume of personal information, customer information, spending habits, etc., you might want to partner with an AI company, like Amazon, Apple, or OpenAI, to bring their model in-house and to look at all of your data and then see if it can have any insights in that. We just have to keep in mind Canadian data privacy laws. The principal one is the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, PIPEDA, which imposes several obligations on businesses that retain personal information and data. You have to make sure that what you're doing is going to comply with that.

TECHOPIA: Brian, what are some of the don'ts when you think of AI?

KELLS: One of the big don'ts involves copyright of data. As an example, let's consider the Ottawa Business Journal. It has 20, 30 or so years worth of articles that it has published. That might be really useful data for an artificial intelligence company to run its algorithm on it and to train on it. And as the owner, you would want to make sure that when you're handing that data over, you have the full rights to do that. What we're talking about really is the copyright that exists in some of those articles.

The legal dos and don’ts of AI | Episode 268

These are uncertain days for technology executives looking to secure venture capital. The sky-high valuations from the pandemic have tumbled and macroeconomic factors, ranging from high interest rates to runaway inflation, have cooled public and private investment markets.

This dramatic change in venture capital is captured in a recent report from BDC Capital. The report indicates the number of VC-backed deals in 2023 dropped by 13 per cent, when compared to the previous year. Worse yet, when measured in dollars, venture capital is down 34 per cent compared to 2022.

But it’s not all bad news in Canada’s tech sector. Many companies are pursuing deep tech ventures, including everything from artificial intelligence to quantum computing. This deep tech has big potential.

In this episode of Techopia Live, Ottawa Business Journal publisher Michael Curran speaks with Sumita Banerjee and Thomas Park of BDC to explore venture capital trends and what BDC is doing to foster deep tech ventures.

Techopia Live: What’s happening with venture capital? | Episode 269

The first-ever issue of Kingston Business Journal is off the press! A sister publication to Eastern Ontario Business Journal and Ottawa Business Journal, this new publication brings local business news coverage to Kingston, Ontario.

In this podcast, host Michael Curran speaks with editor-in-chief Anne Howland to get a preview of the issue. Donna Gillespie, CEO of Kingston Economic Development, shares her thoughts on the evolution of the city’s business scene. Finally, Krista Marie LeClair, executive director of Kingston Accommodation Partners provides an update on the tourism industry, including plans for a new convention centre.

A digital edition of the Kingston Business Journal can be viewed at www.obj.ca/kingston.

Launch of Kingston Business Journal

If you study the history of the most successful tech centres in the United States ‒ think about places such as Silicon Valley, Boston and North Carolina ‒ that have a common element. In all these places, entrepreneurship and innovation were built on the foundations of universities and colleges.

This collaboration between the private sector and post-secondary institutions provides many advantages, including a pipeline for talent, research and development and a culture of entrepreneurship.

This same strategy is at work in Ottawa, especially in Kanata North, where the University of Ottawa recently celebrated the fifth anniversary of its west-end campus.

Over the five years, uOttawa has doubled the size of its campus in Kanata, struck more than 60 research and development collaborations and dramatically increased the number of co-op students working in the technology park.

In this episode of Techopia Live, Ottawa Business Journal publisher Michael Curran speaks with Sean Geddes, the director of innovation and partnership in Kanata North.

For more information about uOttawa, please visit https://obj.ca/company/uottawa/.

uOttawa’s growing presence in Kanata North | Episode 270

There is a global race to embrace AI. Countries and regions are making investments and mapping out strategies to accelerate AI adoption.

Amidst this flurry of activity, something more grassroots is happening in Ottawa. A volunteer-run organization called AI Tinkerers Ottawa, established in late 2023, has surged to 800 members.

This isn’t just a group of AI enthusiasts. On the contrary, only “high technical, active builders” are welcome at regular monthly meetings held at Bayview Yards.

In this episode of Techopia Live, OBJ publisher Michael Curran speaks with the co-founder of AI Tinkerers Ottawa, Hai Nghiem. Nghiem shares the backstory of the local group, what it's trying to achieve and also shares some early details on his own AI venture, Cats with Bats.

Techopia Live: Grassroots group tinkers with AI | Episode 275

Plantaform is beginning the new year with a bang. The Gatineau-based company, which aims to “revolutionize smart indoor gardening,” just kickstarted its U.S. expansion by exhibiting at CES 2025 in Las Vegas. At CES, Plantaform won three major awards, including Best of Innovation in the food and agritech category.

The company will also be featured in CBC’s Dragon’s Den in February, plus showcase its device at Costco locations, including some in the Ottawa area.

Founded in 2020, Plataform leveraged technology from NASA to build an egg-shaped consumer device suitable for kitchen countertops to grow fruits and vegetables using fog.

In this episode of Techopia Live, OBJ publisher Michael Curran speaks with Plantaform cofounder and CEO Alberto Aguilar about how 2025 might be a milestone year for the tech company.

Note: For local viewers and listeners, Plantaform will be Costco at these locations: Kanata (Jan. 21 to Feb. 2), Gloucester (Feb. 4-16) and Nepean (Feb. 18 to March 2).

Techopia Live: Plantaform bursting to life in 2025 | Episode 276

It’s a familiar story in Ottawa’s tech sector. An immigrant entrepreneur, brimming with technical prowess, settles in the city, scales a startup and achieves business success.

This is the story of Sergey Poltev. Born in Russia, Poltev started fixing computers at the age of 12. A few short years later, along with some teenage friends, he launched an Internet cafe and computer gaming shop. Business was booming, until the Russian mafia came calling, causing Poltev to reconsider his future. He sold his share of the business, using the money to travel and study in the U.S.

Eventually, Poltev found himself in Ottawa, and established an IT services company that is known today as CapitalTek. Twenty years later, the managed service provider and cybersecurity consultant counts dozens of local businesses and non-profit organizations as his customers. 

Poltev’s “keep it simple” approach has won him accolades, including a Forty Under 40 award from OBJ and the Ottawa Board of Trade and, more recently, a “MSP Titans of Industry” award.

In this episode of Techopia Live, OBJ publisher Michael Curran speaks with Poltev about his entrepreneurial journey, the consolidation of the MSPs and how CapitalTek is staying relevant to customers. Also, Poltev does a hacker show-and-tell to demonstrate some of the hardware that is used to crack into business IT systems and smartphones.

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Visit https://obj.ca/techopia for regular updates on Ottawa’s technology sector.

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TECHOPIA LIVE WITH SERGEY FROM CAPITALTEK

Ongoing infrastructure improvement and property development are based on an underlying assumption: that Ottawa and Eastern Ontario can continue to rely on a reliable and environmentally friendly supply of electrical power. Is that a safe assumption?

Following the launch of City Building 2025 magazine, Ottawa Business Journal publisher Michael Curran speaks with Bryce Conrad, President and CEO of Hydro Ottawa, about this assumption.

What is Hydro Ottawa doing to build a modern and more resilient electric grid in the face of increasingly severe climate events?

What projects are getting investment from Hydro Ottawa to ensure increased green energy?

How can Hydro Ottawa prepare for increased energy demand triggered by electric vehicles and AI?

These questions and more are answered in this special podcast to launch City Building 2025 magazine. The theme for this year’s magazine is “Projects in the Pipeline.” The magazine looks at major development projects that are planned or springing up in six areas of Ottawa and Eastern Ontario.

To read the digital edition of City Building 2025, visit https://issuu.com/greatrivermedia/docs/city_building_2025?fr=xKAE9_zMzMw

OBJ PODCAST WITH BRYCE HYDRO OTTAWA - Audio

Every tech startup founder faces the same hurdle: funding. It's incredibly tough to grow a tech company when intense research and development come long before a paying customer. But what if there were a proven way to inject significant private capital into Ottawa's tech ecosystem?

A dedicated group of Ottawa business leaders, Canada Flow Through Shares, thinks they have the answer. 

They're pushing for a tax policy inspired by Canada's mining industry, which has successfully used flow-through shares for decades to raise hundreds of millions. This innovative approach allows investors to directly deduct qualifying company expenses, making tech startups a far more attractive investment.

In this episode of Techopia Live, Ottawa Business Journal publisher Michael Curran speaks with David Perry, the driving force behind Canada Flow Through Shares. David explains how this model has supercharged investment in other sectors and countries, and outlines the crucial next steps for getting this powerful policy into the federal budget. Don't miss this essential discussion on how flow-through shares could fundamentally transform tech funding in Canada's capital.

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Techopia Live: Unlocking Capital: Are flow through shares a gamechanger for tech? | Episode 284

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