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“Edmonton Unlimited” Showcases Boundless Innovation, Growth and Investment Opportunities for Local Innovators

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Edmonton, Sept. 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Today, the city’s innovation authority becomes “Edmonton Unlimited,” to better reflect, accelerate, and inspire innovators-of-all-stripes. From the sticky problems solved by local companies and post-secondaries, to the brilliant people who solve them, Edmonton is known for breaking barriers, defined by a relentless pursuit of risk, and celebrated for doing big things.   

“Edmonton Unlimited captures the spirit of our city, harnesses the power of possibility, and brings the best of Edmonton to the world,” said Edmonton Unlimited CEO Catherine Warren. “It reflects the impact and aspirations of local business leaders, expands the public perception of innovation, and charts a course for new startups, capital attraction, and international recognition, relationships and returns.”   

By dreaming big and aligning with other innovative capitals, worldwide markets, and high-impact investors, Edmonton already delivers solutions to meet global demands. Now is the time for the organization, Edmonton’s innovators, and our city’s residents to seize this bold identity, and to beat the drum for local innovation — on the home front and for the world.  

 Take the work of the TELUS Community Safety & Wellness Accelerator, funded in part by Edmonton Unlimited. This first-of-its-kind, Edmonton-based accelerator supports ventures that leverage artificial intelligence and machine learning for positive social impact.  

“The TELUS Community Safety & Wellness Accelerator is positively contributing to positioning Edmonton as an inclusive global innovation capital,” said Ashif Mawji, Chair of the TELUS CSW Accelerator and the Edmonton Police Foundation. “Participating founders gain access to leading-edge programming and collaborations with local organizations, creating solutions to global challenges, improving lives of Edmontonians, and people around the world.”   

“We are a city of innovators tackling global challenges with solutions that international markets demand and where enlightened investors want to put their capital, said Warren. “Not only are we a global leader in foundational, mission-critical technologies such as artificial intelligence, but Edmonton’s ingenuity continues to transform the energy sector, shape culture, sports and urban planning, advance virology, and define digital education – to name just a few of our bench strengths.”  

Over the past five years, the Edmonton region has created 25 percent of all net new jobs in  Canada. In 2021, our city was named North America’s fastest growing tech sector. And since 2020, our ecosystem value increased by 236%. This kind of growth is a sign of the drive and talent within our city, and incredible potential — something Edmonton Unlimited activates and unlocks.  

 From July 1, 2021, to June 30, 2022, Edmonton Unlimited supported 2,577 founders and companies through free startup and scaleup programs. Of these, startup members have received $2.7M USD in investment, over $1M in grant funding, and have achieved 32% employee growth since 2020. Propel program alumni have received $14M in USD investment, $1M in grant funding, and have achieved 105% employee growth in two years.  

In our first 18 months of operation, we achieved several strategic milestones:  

  • A focus on inclusive innovation and Edmonton’s renown in addressing global challenges;  
  • Growth through consolidation of the entities Startup Edmonton, TEC Edmonton and the Edmonton Regional Innovation Network;   
  • The launch of a novel municipal Accelerator fund, including attracting three Silicon Valley Accelerators to Edmonton, and the roll-out of the novel pre-accelerator Alberta Catalyzer, all aimed at supporting entrepreneurs;  
  • Unlocking an exciting municipal procurement experiment, Capital City Pilots, giving local innovators a chance to transform city-owned assets, while gaining powerful case studies for investment attraction and business development;  
  • Revitalizing a key corner of downtown, with a new urban innovation destination, preparing to open a new home that’s sustainable, accessible, street-level and welcoming to all; and   
  • Significant funding from three orders of government who are behind our strategy and programs every step of the way.  

 Edmonton Unlimited invites all Edmonton-based innovators and investors to the table and offers support for those at every stage — from idea to seed and growth — through an interconnected network of tools, programs, and experts. Edmontonians will soon see “Edmonton Unlimited” on the newly refurbished corner of 101 and Jasper Avenue and on a digital installation at YEG International Airport, designed to put innovation into the public realm, attract talent, and foster a culture of innovation across our city.  

Edmonton Unlimited: Innovation from here for the world. Check out how far we’ve come and where we’ll go together at EdmontonUnlimited.com.  

Quotes: 

“With this renewed identity, Edmonton Unlimited further positions our city as a global innovation hub. Edmonton has the people, the knowledge, and with Edmonton Unlimited, the resources to tackle the biggest challenges faced by Canadians and the world today. Today’s announcement is reflective of a vision for our city’s future that is built on bold ideas and entrepreneurial spirit.”  – The Honourable Randy Boissonnault, Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance, M.P. for Edmonton Centre    

“The world is recognizing the growth of Edmonton’s tech and innovation sector, and Edmonton Unlimited is embracing their future potential. It is not just the region that has potential, it is the innovators and entrepreneurs who call Edmonton home. I am very much looking forward to all the good news stories and solutions that will come from Edmonton Unlimited in the years to come.”  – The Honourable Tanya Fir, Minister of Jobs, Economy and Innovation   

“I love Edmonton Unlimited! This name is the perfect blend of a more encompassing view of innovation, creates a sense of global possibility, while tying it back to the geographic region. I am thrilled to be a part of this exciting new chapter. The possibilities are well…limitless.”  – Connie Stacey, President and CEO, Growing Green Innovations and Edmonton Unlimited Innovation Growth Council  

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Artificial Intelligence

PolyU research finds improving AI large language models helps better align with human brain activity

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HONG KONG, May 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — With generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) transforming the social interaction landscape in recent years, large language models (LLMs), which use deep-learning algorithms to train GenAI platforms to process language, have been put in the spotlight. A recent study by The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) found that LLMs perform more like the human brain when being trained in more similar ways as humans process language, which has brought important insights to brain studies and the development of AI models.

Current large language models (LLMs) mostly rely on a single type of pretraining – contextual word prediction. This simple learning strategy has achieved surprising success when combined with massive training data and model parameters, as shown by popular LLMs such as ChatGPT. Recent studies also suggest that word prediction in LLMs can serve as a plausible model for how humans process language. However, humans do not simply predict the next word but also integrate high-level information in natural language comprehension. 
A research team led by Prof. Li Ping, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Sin Wai Kin Foundation Professor in Humanities and Technology at PolyU, has investigated the next sentence prediction (NSP) task, which simulates one central process of discourse-level comprehension in the human brain to evaluate if a pair of sentences is coherent, into model pretraining and examined the correlation between the model’s data and brain activation. The study has been recently published in the academic journal Sciences Advances.
The research team trained two models, one with NSP enhancement and the other without, both also learned word prediction. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data were collected from people reading connected sentences or disconnected sentences. The research team examined how closely the patterns from each model matched up with the brain patterns from the fMRI brain data.
It was clear that training with NSP provided benefits. The model with NSP matched human brain activity in multiple areas much better than the model trained only on word prediction. Its mechanism also nicely maps onto established neural models of human discourse comprehension. The results gave new insights into how our brains process full discourse such as conversations. For example, parts of the right side of the brain, not just the left, helped understand longer discourse. The model trained with NSP could also better predict how fast someone read – showing that simulating discourse comprehension through NSP helped AI understand humans better.
Recent LLMs, including ChatGPT, have relied on vastly increasing the training data and model size to achieve better performance. Prof. Li Ping said, “There are limitations in just relying on such scaling. Advances should also be aimed at making the models more efficient, relying on less rather than more data. Our findings suggest that diverse learning tasks such as NSP can improve LLMs to be more human-like and potentially closer to human intelligence.”
He added, “More importantly, the findings show how neurocognitive researchers can leverage LLMs to study higher-level language mechanisms of our brain. They also promote interaction and collaboration between researchers in the fields of AI and neurocognition, which will lead to future studies on AI-informed brain studies as well as brain-inspired AI.”
Media ContactMs Annie WongSenior Manager, Public AffairsTel: +852 3400 3853Email: [email protected] 

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/polyu-research-finds-improving-ai-large-language-models-helps-better-align-with-human-brain-activity-302156065.html

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Artificial Intelligence

VivaTech 2024: a record-breaking event

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PARIS, May 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — VivaTech 2024 broke records with more than 165,000 visitors over four days, a 10% increase over 2023. The event welcomed 13,500 start-ups, a 20% increase over the previous year.

A BUSINESS AND FINANCE ACCELERATOR
VivaTech has established itself as a key business event, generating more than 400,000 online business connections this year. Startups forged business relationships with companies from 25 sectors and met over 2,000 investors.
VIVA TECHNOLOGY CONFIRMS ITS INTERNATIONAL APPEAL
The event attracted representatives from more than 120 countries and 40 national pavilions. Japan, the country of the year, showcased its ecosystem with a ministerial delegation and more than 40 startups. Africa was also in the spotlight with the Africa Tech Lab and the AfricaTech Awards, honouring innovative startups such as Schoolz, Rology and Inclusivity Solutions.
AI AND SUSTAINABLE TECH AT THE HEART OF THE PROGRAMME
VivaTech 2024 showcased the latest advances in artificial intelligence, with nearly 40% of exhibitors dedicated to this technology. Sustainable tech was also in the spotlight, especially through the Impact Bridge, a space dedicated to initiatives for a sustainable future. VivaTech’s environmental efforts were rewarded with ISO 20-121 certification.
DIVERSITY MORE THAN EVER IN VIVATECH’S DNA 
Diversity took centre stage where over 40% of speakers were women. Among the most notable initiatives, the Female Founder Challenge rewarded Albane Dersy from Inbolt. At the same time, Femtech France took advantage of the event to launch its second Femtech industry barometer.
THE MEETING PLACE FOR REVEALS, EXCLUSIVITIES AND INNOVATIONS
For four days, VivaTech was the scene of numerous revelations, with some fifty worldwide or European exclusives unveiled. Among these, Tesla’s Cybertruck made its first appearance in France, marking a highlight of the event.
INTERNATIONAL SPEAKERS
VivaTech 2024 consolidated its position as the must-attend technology event with over 400 international speakers sharing their visions on AI and sustainable tech. Speakers included Elon Musk, John Kerry, Eric Schmidt, Arthur Mensch, Robin Li, Linda Yaccarino and Serena and Venus Williams. Institutional figures such as Fumio Kishida, Bruno Le Maire and Thierry Breton also took an active part in the debates.
WE LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOU FROM 11 TO 14 JUNE 2025 AT PARIS PORTE DE VERSAILLES!
Contact: [email protected]
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View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/vivatech-2024-a-record-breaking-event-302156012.html

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Only Much Louder’s AI-powered influencer marketing tech, Hypothesis, expands globally, to empower brands to connect with international creators

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OML Entertainment’s Hypothesis is targeting the Asia–Pacific Region, Middle East, Africa, and USA by 2025.Hypothesis will open borders for brands and agencies, facilitating a region-agnostic global platformMUMBAI, India, May 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Only Much Louder’s AI-powered influencer marketing tech, Hypothesis, expands its global footprint, after revolutionizing the Indian influencer market. In the first phase, Hypothesis will be available in the Asia–Pacific region (Singapore, Australia, Malaysia, Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand), Middle Eastern countries (Abu Dhabi, GCC nations, Egypt, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar) as well as in Africa (Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa) and the USA.

Himani Agrawal, Senior Vice President, Hypothesis-OML, said, “At Hypothesis, we’re proud to offer a comprehensive kit for creator evaluation using 100+ data points. We provide the ultimate tool for your marketing arsenal. This is made even more convenient with our self-serve mode, empowering brands to initiate impactful influencer campaigns independently.”
Hypothesis streamlines data-driven influencer marketing globally, after recognising a critical disconnect between creator technology and services. Hypothesis was created with an inherent potential to serve a global audience, by empowering brands and agencies to transcend geographical limitations and unite discovery, outreach, and analytics in a single, user-friendly platform. This will accelerate the growth of the creator economy, creating opportunities for creators and brands.
Gunjan Arya, CEO of OML Entertainment, said, “We will be closely monitoring the milestones of Hypothesis to infiltrate the markets at the rate of 5–10% in the first year. We will also keep an eye on the acquisition rate, which is aimed to rise by 15–20%. Besides, we seek to derive over 35% of revenue from our global expansion efforts.”
With Hypothesis, OML is strategizing to expand into markets like Australia, the Asia–Pacific, the Middle East, and Africa, due to the region’s influencer marketing industry, which stands at 33.4% CAGR. Regions like the USA and the MENA have emerged as key players that are driven by advanced technologies and demand for data analytics.
Leveraging OML’s successful presence in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Eastern Europe, Hypothesis is set for a smooth rollout. OML’s established network, combined with their in-house expertise, will provide a strong foundation for this endeavor.
For details, visit hyp.io
Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2422425/OML_Entertainment_Hypothesis.jpg
 

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/only-much-louders-ai-powered-influencer-marketing-tech-hypothesis-expands-globally-to-empower-brands-to-connect-with-international-creators-302155957.html

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