We check in weekly with Alberta Minister of Jobs, Economy and Innovation, Doug Schweitzer almost weekly on the Trending 55 Hot Seat. As always, we get Schweitzer’s thoughts on Major League Baseball and we had a chance to get his thoughts on some recent announcements involving the ministry.
- On partnering with an investment bank (Thrive Canada) to support tech start-ups. “Investment in technology is at the forefront of agriculture here in the province of Alberta. It makes complete sense for a venture capitalist firm that is driven for agricultural technology that is from the heart of Silicon Valley in Califoria, where the googles and everyone else is situated. They want to be in Alberta to make sure they are at the forefront of innovation and agriculture.”
- On reaching out to people in the film industry in British Columbia. “We want to sell Alberta to the world. We want to make sure films can come here as well and have those productions done here in Alberta. We have beautiful landscapes and there is no reason why these companies can’t shoot their films and movies here in Alberta. BC is having a little bit of a tough time right now so let’s bring them to Alberta and help them finish their productions and shoots this year.”
- On a $2.1 million partnership with the federal government on researching technology related to the fight against COVID-19. “Researchers (at the Universities of Alberta and Calgary)are at the forefront of almost immediate antibody testing, and using artificial intelligence to spot trends and how COIVD is spread so we can intervene earlier on. We saw these projects as must-haves. This is also an opportunity for businesses to take that research and turn it into job opportunities.”
We covered more topics with Schweitzer, and the full conversation is below.
– Kenny Trenton, Trending 55 Newsroom
