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Industry Week :
Training the Future AI Workforce in Troy, New York
The city is creating an AI ecosystem in the form of an Artificial Intelligence Center of Excellence.
Good ideas always have interesting starting points.
As Bob Bedard, president of deFactor Global, was expanding his business offerings to include artificial intelligence (AI) he looked around his surroundings and realized that Troy, New York was doing a lot of research in this area.
While private businesses such as GE’s Lighting Research Center, located in Troy, and area public educational institutions, such as Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and SUNY (Hudson Valley Community College in Troy were all engaged in this field, there wasn’t a coordinated effort.
Read the full article HERE
Smart Industry | “Intelligizing” your manufacturing business
It is critical to take stock of the data you do have and the data you don’t.
By Bob Bedard, president and CEO of deFacto Global
The industrial and digital revolutions created an upheaval and urgency prompting manufacturers to continually transform their businesses or risk losing ground to competitors. Organizations gain or lose advantages depending on their ability to optimize their business processes using automation and digital technology and now a new wave—let’s call it Intelligizing—is emerging that promises to have at least as powerful an affect on businesses as previous waves.
Read the entire Smart Industry article HERE
AI Trends | Practice Ethical AI, Dr. Shirley Jackson, President of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Challenges Business Leaders
April 12, 2019
At an event on the Ethics of AI presented by the New England Executive Council of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Dr. Shirley A. Jackson, president of the university, challenged today’s executive leadership to do the right thing.
“AI is on a knife’s edge. It’s up to us to decide how it will be used,” Dr. Jackson said.
AI is advancing rapidly and is expected to have a mighty economic benefit. Dr. Jackson quoted from a McKinsey Global Institute study that estimated AI will add an estimated $13 trillion by 2030 to global economic output. That study compared the impact of AI with the introduction of steam engines in the 1800s and robots in the 1990s.
The special panel discussion was sponsored by the Artificial Intelligence Center of Excellence in Troy, NY. Bob Bedard, founder of the center, the CEO of deFacto Global and a graduate of Rensselaer, said, “This is an important examination of the effect of AI and Machine Learning from an ethical perspective on technology, business, even everyday life. The establishment of the AI Center of Excellence is a major initiative focused on creating an AI ecosystem designed to develop literacy, competency, job creation and economic growth throughout the Capital District and the State of New York.”
The center will promote the commercialization of AI R&D, generate opportunities for startups and provide skill development programs for students. “The AI Center of Excellence will also support policy makers with their research on ethics concerned with creation and adoption of new AI technologies are driving forces of the endeavor,” Bedard said.
Read the Article on AI Trends HERE
Smart cities: What’s the channel opportunity?
We look at some of the channel’s smart city initiatives and examine the opportunities for partners
“Microsoft Gold and Inner Circle AI-Partner and business enablement firm deFacto Global has plans to launch a new artificial intelligence (AI)-focused consulting and development practice and the first AI Center of Excellence, in upstate New York.
CEO Bob Bedard sees AI revolutionizing the industry, and says deFacto Global is already embracing the coming future by integrating AI-enabled technology into its programs.
“Cities stand to benefit from AI in a wide range of areas,” Bedard tells Channelnomics, listing several examples:
- Stop-light-mounted cameras/sensors scanning the number of cars that typically move through an intersection, then build predictive models married to real time data to constantly optimize traffic flow.
- Using sensors and AI to control lights along the path of an ambulance/fire truck/police car rushing through intersections.
- To better manage street parking, predictive maintenance of streets and equipment, optimize services like snow removal, energy usage of public buildings, et cetera.
A vision of the future in Troy: Behind the $2 million plan to create an AI center
Downtown Troy has software companies, video game designers, startups and incubators. The next generation of tech jobs might be in artificial intelligence. That’s one reason why Bob Bedard and county officials want to create the AI Center of Excellence, a research space that could bring major industry players to the region.
Troy’s $2 million AI center would create more than 80 jobs
Plans are moving forward on a new $2 million artificial intelligence center in downtown Troy that is bringing together local and national business leaders to research and develop new AI technologies.
Regional council releases 2018 priority projects
Read Here | Albany Times Union
The Capital Region Economic Development Council’s list of 2018 priority projects in line for tens of millions of dollars in funding from the state include a $29 million renovation of the Palace Theatre in Albany, a $56 million pharmaceutical plant in Rotterdam, a $2 million artificial intelligence center in Troy and a $4.1 million slope-side inn at Gore Mountain in North Creek.