Mission/Abbotsford – With its recently launched Spatially Enabled AI (“SEA”) Initiative, the spatial technology cluster development is set to gain traction in the local tech scene. XLRator hopes to fortify and support various sectors of Fraser Valley’s economy including agriculture and manufacturing, leveraging the SEA Initiative.
Not long ago, technological advances seemed to originate exclusively from storied hubs on the two U.S. coasts: the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and California’s Silicon Valley. Now, tech innovation and the resulting disruption is feasible in the heartland and wherever visionary companies stake a claim on the change they want to foster. Today, there are hundreds of tech start-ups in BC; with XLRator’s long-standing history as the founder of the first Ag Tech venture acceleration (AVAP) dating back to 2014 within BC’s AgTech economy and the local booming agriculture industry, the Agrilyze platform is well positioned to put the region on the map and stimulate the growth of a strong local cluster.
The agriculture sector in British Columbia accounts for over $3 billion of the province’s GDP with over $1 billion coming from the Fraser Valley’s crops. In fact, 1 in 5 jobs in the Fraser Valley are related to agriculture. It is evident that the industry is extremely prominent in this region, yet most, if not all, agriculture practices are extremely outdated and have yet to adopt new technologies.
Agrilyze, a leading-edge software platform, will be delivered on top of i-Open’s well-established industrial strength GIS engine – PlanworX: capable of analyzing large volumes of spatial and non-spatial data. The aim is to bring big data analysis tools into the hands of farmers, industry, government, and academic institutions. This will allow them to revolutionize the fight against traditional challenges within the agriculture industry such as weather, soil conditions, environmental and overall inefficiencies.
The agriculture industry has yet to reap the benefits of improved data maintenance and data analytics, let alone leverage the power of AI and ML. The core strategy of Agrilyze will be to allow local agriculture and related industries to see all of their data through a single spatially-enabled platform, with precise local data sets and use of sensors and other hardware technologies; and provide analytics for planning and overall operational excellence and efficiencies. With participation from local, national and international partners including higher educational institutions and researchers, Agrilyze is set to launch and deliver very localized data, targeting the various domains of the local agriculture industry such as berries, livestock, greenhouses and even cannabis players within the Fraser Valley.
Raymond Szabada, Chairman & CEO of XLRator states “the adoption of technology in the agriculture industry is long overdue. Agriculture could add $11B to Canada’s GDP by 2030 if only we could invest in people and technology, nationally. Collectively, with industry leaders such as i-Open Technologies and others who have shown strong interest within the local tech eco-system, XLRator aims to provide the bridge between innovation and agriculture. Think about the basic challenges such as reducing crop losses with the use of predictive analytics to develop weather modeling or simply detecting chlorophyll levels in plants; these are some basic applications and other very advance modules that the Agrilyze on-demand technology platform will deliver locally and provide the Valley based growers’ an edge nationally and internationally that they require.”
The platform being developed in tandem by XLRator and local industry Geospatial AI leader, i-Open Technologies, is now available to try for free.The XLRator team is excited to form alliances with industry partners, researchers, and technology providers in the support of this key milestone and participate in the encompassing vision for the Fraser Valley as part of the global agtech landscape.
For more information regarding Agrilyze and the SEA Initiative, please visit www.agrilyze.ca or email info@xlrator.ca.
