The EU and Canada reinforced their cooperation and reaffirmed shared interests to boost competitiveness, innovation and economic resilience during the first Digital Partnership Council held today in Montreal, Canada. The Council took place back-to-back with the G7 Industry, Digital and Technology Ministerial meeting, hosted by Canada.
Both the EU and Canada have launched strategies to strengthen their competitiveness and digital sovereignty and reiterated the importance of supporting companies, especially small and medium-sized (SMEs), with smart regulations.
Co-chaired by Executive Vice-President of the European Commission for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, Henna Virkkunen, and Canada's Minister for Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation, Evan Solomon, the Council welcomed the cooperation under the Partnership and set an ambitious agenda for the months to come. The EU and Canada agreed to explore opportunities to cooperate with like-minded partners on issues of common interest.
Supporting innovation and boosting AI adoption in strategic sectors
The EU and Canada are committed to developing trustworthy artificial intelligence (AI) technologies that respect fundamental rights and facilitate trade, investment and economic growth. To enhance their cooperation on AI standards, regulation, skills development and adoption, the partners signed today a Memorandum of Understanding on Artificial Intelligence.
In line with the EU's Apply AI Strategy and the Canadian framework, the partners will share best practices to accelerate AI adoption in strategic sectors such as healthcare, manufacturing, energy, culture, science and public services, and support SMEs. They committed to work together on large AI infrastructures and support industry and academia's access to AI compute capacity. They will also explore scientific cooperation on fundamental AI research, and the development of advanced AI models for the public good, including in areas such as extreme weather monitoring and climate change.
In addition, the EU and Canada will set up a structured dialogue on data spaces, of particular relevance to the development of large AI models.
