The Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency and the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation are giving the Université de Moncton a combined $324,000 worth of grants to create a new artificial intelligence hub at its Shippagan, New Brunswick campus.

Dubbed the Carrefour de formation en robotique et intelligence artificielle, or CFRIA, the new centre will be focused on developing innovative industrial processes for the manufacturing and seafood sectors, as well as increasing the supply of specialized labour available in those fields.

ACOA is spending $197,000, and NBIF is spending $110,000 via its Strategic AI Acceleration Fund.

“Our support of this collaborative project is another example of how applied R&D makes its way into our industries,” said NBIF Chief Executive Jeff White in a statement. “Projects such as this involve a high degree of industrial collaboration and training of highly qualified personnel.

“Increasing the AI capacity in our province will also allow for more complex industry-relevant projects to continue to take shape.”

The Université de Moncton has historically been a relatively quiet player in the innovation world. But a new AI hub at a time when many of the highest-profile young companies in Atlantic Canada are working in the field, like Saint John-based TrojAI and Fredericton's Resson, could bring fresh relevance to the institution.

The announcement comes just months after the University of New Brunswick said that property developer Dick Carpenter had donated $2.5 million to its McKenna Institute for digital technologies to fund artificial intelligence and data science research.

“In a context of globalization and labour challenges where the use of advanced technologies is becoming essential to the competitiveness of industries and businesses, the new … (CFRIA) will support potential and current industrial partners by offering them high-level training that will enable them to take advantage of these disruptive technologies,” said university Vice President Sid Ahmed Selouani.

“The CFRIA's team of experts will help partner companies explore robotization and artificial intelligence options in order to positively impact their operations and costs.”