We recently unveiled a new report that demonstrates the impact of this work in Quebec. The report from Ernst and Young LLP (EY) found that the Microsoft ecosystem contributes more than $6.4 billion in GDP in Quebec annually and supports 57,600 full-time jobs across the province. This report also highlights Microsoft’s contributions to the province’s economy and society through its partner network, cloud ecosystem, and innovation across all sectors and initiatives that support the broader community.  

Supporting Inclusive Economic Opportunity  

The Microsoft partner ecosystem, composed of local businesses ranging from small to large, rural to urban, has been, and continues to be, at the centre of how Microsoft delivers technology, and services that enable business and public sector transformation across Québec. The more than 3,200 Microsoft partners in Quebec have generated over $5 billion in revenue annually, and fueled a level of customer impact beyond what Microsoft could achieve on our own. 

To continue to grow this impact in Quebec, Microsoft recently announced a $500 million (USD) digital infrastructure investment that will increase its computing capacity by approximately 240 percent over the next 3 years.  

Skills for Jobs  

The report also details how supporting inclusive economic opportunity is about working to close the digital divide to ensure Quebec has a robust skilled workforce in place to fully realize the positive potential of digital transformation and advancements in AI. To bridge the digital skills gap, Microsoft has been laser focused on establishing local partnerships and programs in province.  

For example, we recently announced that we are expanding our alliance with NPower Canada, to empower job-seekers with digital training and career development opportunities aligned to the in-demand tech skills Québec’s economy needs. Specifically, we supported the establishment of NPower Canada’s first bilingual site in Quebec, allowing their Canadian Tech Talent Accelerator (CTTA) program to be accessible to job-seekers in the province. And we’ve just announced new French programming focused on data analysis and AI. This is in addition to the newly announced co-investment of $2 million from Digital, Microsoft and CIBC Foundation, to launch over 6,000 job-seekers across Canada, including Québec, into meaningful careers in the ever-growing tech sector.  

A central focus of our efforts to promote inclusive opportunities is equipping students with vital digital skills that contribute to Quebec’s growing economy. Simultaneously, we are committed to building strong digital environments that are accessible to both learners and teachers alike. Working with Teameo, a Microsoft partner in Longueuil, Quebec, we’re helping educators lead the next generation with ease by creating unique digital environments that meet the needs of Quebec schools, from simplifying how technology is used for teaching to improving how educational content is delivered. 

Earning Trust and Advancing Cybersecurity  

The cybersecurity landscape has long been recognized for its complexity, but the rapid pace of AI has introduced unparalleled opportunities for defenders and attackers. Security teams are tasked with harnessing AI as a force multiplier for positive outcomes, while also bearing the responsibility and expertise to protect their systems and data against advancing AI-driven cyber threats. According to a 2020 ISC Cybersecurity Workforce Study, Canada has a cybersecurity talent shortfall of more than 16,000 people, and that gap has grown since the onset of the pandemic.  

Cybersecurity is a key priority for Canadian organizations’ undergoing rapid digital transformation, so providing access to the right cybersecurity skills must be at the forefront of helping governments and businesses shore up their cyber defence. To further expand on this commitment and help futureproof Quebec businesses in the face of accelerated AI innovation and growing cybersecurity threats, we recently joined forced with KPMG to announce the Operational Risk Skills Development Centre. The Centre, representing an investment of $1.7M over three years will offer free hands-on training to help businesses and governments build cybersecurity protections, navigate the opportunities and challenges of GenAI, and implement it responsibly. 

Further, Microsoft is working closely with partners like Qohash, to help businesses of all sizes meet the highest security and protection requirements by going deep into the very fabric of their organization and providing actionable insights from their data. With comprehensive and detailed insights into their data and its users from Qohash, organizations can better identify risks, pinpoint insider threats and safeguard their most valuable assets.  

Three decades in, Microsoft is proud to be a part of Quebec’s robust innovation economy. Our new investments show our continued commitment to Quebec and its people and businesses, and we look forward to what’s next. 

More details on Microsoft’s impact across Quebec including in relation to sustainability and hybrid work can be found in the EY report. 

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I think we can all agree that 2023 has been an interesting year for the financial services industry. The evolving global macroeconomic landscape of rising interest rates, inflation and volatility from geopolitical tensions has exposed the vulnerabilities and interdependencies of the world economy. These challenging circumstances, coupled with the recent collapse of major financial institutions in other countries have created shocks and aftershocks across global financial systems, to which our Canadian institutions are not immune. These events, and many others continue to underscore the importance of one major task here at home – risk management. 

There is a lot at stake when it comes to managing risk. The repercussions of negative incidents can impact brand reputation, trust, and the bottom line. Risk management plays an essential role in safeguarding financial institutions from the broader market impacts discussed above. It also allows firms to identify, assess and understand suspicious activity like fraud, money laundering, human trafficking, and other forms of financial crime – it’s very serious business.  

At Microsoft, we believe there has never been a more important time to discuss the risk challenges facing our financial institutions. In the face of these risks, many are also dealing with operational challenges including legacy systems, overwhelming amounts of data, complex analytics and increasingly high regulatory expectations. Paired with business expectations to reduce spend on IT while managing increased workloads, these factors create a challenging environment to navigate.  

So how do risk teams address these challenges to best manage potential threats while still maintaining a competitive edge?  

At Microsoft, we work in lockstep with many customers as a partner in risk management.  

We are committed to supporting our customers in managing risk across three core areas: Risk Compute, Data and Analytics and Operations and Reporting.  Each of these are underpinned by our trust and compliance capabilities, that can only be delivered by the Microsoft Cloud.​ Let’s dive in.  

Compute Capabilities are the Foundation for the Future of Risk 

On-premises technology requires a high level of internal expertise and resources to manage cybersecurity risks and does not have the ability to scale and respond quickly to market events and regulatory pressures. Cloud adoption and compute capabilities are the foundation for the future of risk management.  

The ability to run analytics across all data, with limitless capacity and speed is what our customers consistently tell us is the key ingredient to supporting risk. ​ For example, TD Securities, part of TD Bank Group, required massive compute power to run its complex derivatives pricing application, so decided to transition to Azure to address performance complexity while also keeping infrastructure costs low. 

The Microsoft cloud provides capacity on demand, helping financial organizations optimize their use and achieve significant efficiencies as well as enabling them to be more ambitious in the way they model risk and potentially respond to change.  

Taking the Guesswork out of Managing Risk with Data, AI and Analytics 

Of course, it’s not enough to only focus on boosting compute capabilities.  Financial services organizations need analytics to drive business performance, whether it be to improve capital management, reduce the cost of compliance, or quickly respond to market events. The changing nature of financial services requires analytics to surface the best information to inform on scenarios and business needs. ​ 

Azure provides high-performance unlimited cloud compute to fulfill these needs with zero trust data privacy. With cloud-based solutions, financial institutions can run new methods of advanced analytics including new capabilities with AI and machine learning that can help teams react more quickly to various risks. For example, loan loss, credit and market risk management can require highly complex calculations that would take days to compute with legacy, on premise systems. But when it comes to risk, time is very much of the essence. Delays can cause banks –and markets – real money. With Azure, banks can run models and calculations within minutes, leading to better, more-timely risk management strategies. 

Re-engineering Risk Operations and Reporting 

Finally, regulatory expectations are higher than ever and the operational workload of compliance for financial institutions is significant. However, if data is accessible by the cloud, this process can be simplified, reducing the process costs and cyber risks of moving the data around. Digitizing eliminates paper and manual entry, which reduces risk, and automating outcomes and risk processes create better visibility and reporting, allowing risk teams to focus on other priorities.  

A cloud-based financial services environment offers many benefits for organizations to manage risk and optimize financial crime prevention. The digital transformation of risk management alongside a trusted partner like Microsoft will become imperative for organizations to continually innovate and effectively manage the risks of today. 

For more information on how to impact risk management strategies with technology, check out the e-book Redefining Risk Management in an Era of Data and Disruption. 

The post How the Microsoft Cloud Helps Banks Manage Risk  appeared first on Microsoft Industry Blogs - Canada.

Canada’s public service is no exception. As one of the most vital industries bracing our economy, the public sector faces a multitude of obstacles requiring innovation. As a result, Microsoft continues to make significant investments in communities and across all levels of governments to help address many of these challenges. That includes:   

• Export Development Canada (EDC), which is managing its own ESG goals and helping Canadian companies adopt sustainable business practices and to compete globally, using Microsoft Azure.  
• The City of Kitchener, which is using Microsoft Power Platform to help by-law officers manage snow removal notices in as little as 20 minutes, something that previously took several hours.  
• Ontario Public Service (OPS), which hosts the annual OPS Microsoft Hackathon to tackle challenges with technology and help employees improve their technical skills. In 2022, more than 800 people attended the three-day hackathon.   

Our latest Economic and Social Impact Report with Ernst & Young LLP (EY) demonstrates the impact of our work in Ontario – the province that’s home to our Canadian headquarters and where we opened our doors in 1985. For nearly four decades, Microsoft has been dedicated to driving innovation across every industry in Ontario and creating a more inclusive, equitable, sustainable and trusted future for everyone.   

This report highlights how we are strengthening Ontario’s future. Through the Microsoft Partner Network, our cloud ecosystem and ongoing work with the public sector to bring digital skills training to more Canadians, build resilient businesses with digital infrastructure and by enriching communities with accessible technology, equal opportunities and more.   

Supporting inclusive economic growth  

In 38 years of operation, we have helped fuel the prosperity of Ontario’s digital economy. Our 1,800+ full-time Ontario-based Microsoft and LinkedIn employees and more than 7,000 partners have helped generate or sustain $15.8 billion in GDP annually and support over 121,000 jobs. And through our collaborations with partners across academic, non-profit and government, we’re introducing new economic drivers, enabling social inclusion, advancing education, creating a more sustainable future, skilling Canadians, securing our data and more.  

Canadian organizations of all types have been investing heavily in technology to overcome challenges in response to the pandemic with no signs of slowing down. This transition was perhaps most acutely felt in the public sector, which was sometimes slow to adopt new technology because of complex security and compliance needs. AI, machine learning and cloud have become essential tools to ensure success for government agencies. Whether it’s enabling employees to work remotely, migrating paper-based processes to the cloud, or scaling citizen services, technology adoption has resulted in greater efficiency and cost-savings for every level of government.  

This rapid adoption of digital solutions has created unprecedented amounts of data – data that’s provides the key to future growth and innovation. To better help Ontario organizations harness the power of data and cloud and accelerate their digital transformation, we established the Data Innovation Centre of Excellence (DICE) in Toronto and Microsoft Government Innovation Centre in Ottawa.  

We continue to use our resources and capabilities to bolster an inclusive talent pipeline and help equip Ontarians with the right skills to build livelihoods in the digital economy. Through our skilling initiatives and collaborations with organizations like Actua and NPower Canada, we have helped more than 10,000 Ontarians gain technical skills training and helped put hundreds of equity-deserving individuals on the path to meaningful employment. We have also reached and trained over 7100 Indigenous youth in the province in 2021 and this work continues.  

Protecting fundamental rights  

We are dedicated to fostering partnerships and solutions that will have lasting impact in solving societies’ greatest challenges like empowering social good and protecting democracy. Last year, Microsoft employees volunteered more than 4,000 hours and supported nearly 1,300 charitable organizations. We also launched the Democracy Forward program in partnership with Elections Ontario, to promote election integrity and safeguard Ontario’s democracy against cyber attacks.  

Creating a sustainable future  

We recognize climate change as one of the most pressing issues of our time which requires swift, collective action. This is why we’re collaborating with organizations across Ontario on sustainability initiatives. In September 2022, we announced a historic partnership with Ontario Power Generation on multiple sustainability project which include Microsoft leveraging OPG’s carbon-free energy supply to power our Ontario datacentres with carbon-free energy around the clock – a first for Microsoft globally.  

Earning trust  

Remote working, an explosion of online activity post-pandemic and evolving threats, including nation state threats, is driving a sea change for the security industry. Organizations across every industry and sector must adopt a holistic security approach that includes a zero-trust mindset, cloud-first posture and the investment in people and skills.  

After recent ransomware attacks on multiple healthcare organizations across the province and the country, The Ottawa Hospital worked with Microsoft to help improve its security posture. The organization credits Microsoft Defender technology for endpoint and cloud for the quick containment of attacks and ability to share threat intelligence with partner institutions.  

Altogether, the investments we’ve made to date have driven real impact in Ontario and beyond. We look forward to continuing to co-innovate with organizations of all shapes and sizes and accelerating Ontario’s success for decades to come.  

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From changing market conditions to new and evolving technology innovations, the potential of emerging tools like OpenAI’s ChatGPT inside of our organizations and navigating the return to work, we faced a tremendous number of obstacles and opportunities. And yet, we came together as a team, and persevered. I continue to be blown away by the incredible resilience and innovative nature of our Canadian financial services customers.

While we have made a significant amount of progress, there is still much work to be done.

Financial services customers across Canada continue to face an increasingly complex operating environment with macroeconomic headwinds, stricter regulatory controls and traditional revenue sources becoming more challenging. These conditions are putting greater pressure on firms to reinvent business models and do more with less. However, legacy platforms, siloed information, limits on scale and data overload hinder their ability to deliver the best client experience, insights and tools.

While we cannot control the external forces that may impact our businesses, we can control how we respond, and organizations who stay the course on their digital transformation will be best equipped to face this uncertainty and react swiftly to challenges.

To be successful in 2023 and beyond, financial service organizations will need to focus (or continue focusing) on the following: 

Data, AI and Machine Learning – Financial services is one of the most data-intense industries in the world. Effective use of this data to enable real-time business decision making and unlock new insights is critical to stay competitive.

Last year, TD Bank announced that it established an enterprise level data estate on Microsoft Azure to power access to high-quality, governed and secure data across the bank. This initiative has enhanced the data and analytics capabilities of the bank including new opportunities with AI and machine learning.

We also recently announced a 10-year strategic partnership with London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) that combines LSEG’s business-critical solutions and data, analytics, and modeling expertise with Microsoft’s trusted Azure cloud platform and global reach, to deliver a new range of flexible services – enhancing how investors, traders and financial institutions collaborate, analyze and transact across capital markets.  There is incredible potential when organizations harness the power of data to innovate and improve experiences for both customers and employees, and there is tremendous opportunity to reach new heights with AI and machine learning.

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP) is already working on an effective data strategy leveraging Microsoft Azure’s comprehensive data platform to inform decision making. By utilizing Azure Synapse Analytics, a limitless analytics service that brings together data integration, enterprise data warehousing, and big data analytics, the teams at HOOPP are able to access a safe and secure environment for a single source of data analytics to enable timely decisions and improve member services.

Cybersecurity – In such a heavily regulated environment where the privacy and security of client information is paramount, cybersecurity will remain a top priority in financial services. For digital banks, like Equitable Bank (EQB), this is especially important. Last year, when a cybersecurity test revealed weaknesses in its security defences, EQB took action. It replaced two security information and event management solutions with Microsoft Sentinel and deployed Microsoft 365 Defender solutions to cover endpoints, identities and cloud apps. After experiencing startlingly improved results from its second test, EQB knows it’s on the right track.

Digital Skills – Above all, organizations need digital talent to continue driving this innovation and growth. Microsoft is taking action to bridge the digital skills gap in Canada and forge new pathways towards inclusive economic growth and opportunities. Last summer, IGM Financial announced that it chose Microsoft Azure as a key provider of public cloud services to enable its digital infrastructure strategy. Through this collaboration, IGM is also leveraging Microsoft’s extensive suite of training programs and certifications to support and grow top talent at IGM. The result will be a resilient workforce capable of leveraging the Microsoft Cloud to digitize back-office operations, develop modernized practices and reinforce cybersecurity.

Most recently, First West Credit Union has partnered with HSO to use Microsoft Dynamics 365 as their new cloud-based customer relationship management platform. Dynamics 365 is Microsoft’s next-generation business application suite using the power of Microsoft Cloud for Financial Services, Microsoft 365, Microsoft Power Platform and Microsoft’s advanced intelligence tools.

Sustainability – Reversing the effects of climate change is the biggest challenge of our generation and we can only succeed if businesses and governments work together to find solutions. We also know that customers are demanding more of the businesses they work, and for many, organizations that operate sustainability and responsibly is table stakes. To enable their Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG) priorities, financial institutions will need a modern scalable and trusted cloud platform.

Export Development Canada (BDC) is moving the vast majority of its internal datacenter capacity to the Azure cloud platform and plans to track internal metrics on its carbon impact goals using Microsoft Emissions Impact Dashboard and evaluate the results. By standardizing and unifying the organization on Azure and Microsoft 365, EDC is continuing to reduce its carbon footprint, while also improving its disaster recovery capabilities and even boosting employee productivity through its use of Microsoft Teams and other components of Microsoft 365, to build out tools and optimize its processes for collaboration.

Additionally, EDC’s implementation of Azure Databricks has the potential to help EDC track overall ESG metrics, capture insights, and support smarter, more sustainable business decisions that align with its ESG goals.

It is inspiring to see such rapid transformation across these Canadian organizations as they embrace the innovation needed to grow their business and confront today’s most pressing challenges. While uncertain times are ahead, it is this type of accelerated innovation that will ensure the agility needed for success, whatever the future may hold.

To learn more about how Microsoft is empowering the financial services industry, visit the resource below:

•    Reimagine Banking with AI e-book: Learn about the benefits of AI in banking, use cases, and how it helps or organizations like yours become more agile and make smarter decisions so you stay competitive.

The post Trends Shaping Canada’s Financial Services Industry in 2023 appeared first on Microsoft Industry Blogs - Canada.

While every company’s digital journey is noteworthy, the midmarket financial sector’s transformation is especially impressive as they have an increasingly unique challenge.

For starters, midmarket companies must learn to navigate the digital journey without the more robust resources of their larger peers. Another challenge is these companies don’t have the same level of flexibility and agility as some smaller organizations. And finally, waiting to adopt a digital strategy can put an organization at risk of being outranked by the competition or losing industry relevancy.

For Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP), this has meant diving in headfirst and embracing the change that’s needed to provide more value to the 420,000+ members who rely on them to manage their pension. For HOOPP, it’s not about a competitive or leading edge, but about delivering value and a retirement promise to healthcare workers (both working and retired) – and this is no small feat.

HOOPP’s digital transformation journey started years ago to modernize the pension administration platform, realize operational efficiencies, and provide the most secure and innovative technology and tools to service their members. One of the biggest shifts (and challenges) was three years ago when they shifted from a traditional IT physical operating model to the public cloud leveraging Microsoft’s trusted Azure platform.

“Once this cloud adoption happened, that’s when the team realized that we needed to embrace change as a constant” said Juan Diz, Vice President, Pension Solutions Group (PSG), at HOOPP. “Being in the cloud, helped us innovate faster, reduce complexities, improve performance and lower costs.”

For many organizations, the pandemic accelerated cloud adoption, but because HOOPP had already started their journey with Azure, they had the foundation in place for innovation to scale. This meant they were able to deliver new services and technologies to their members faster throughout the course of the pandemic. And this was just the beginning, the next step involved refining their operating model to become more efficient using this cloud native technology and realizing an effective data strategy.

A Microsoft survey earlier this year found that almost two-thirds (61 per cent) of Canadian business leaders agree that data – and knowing how to draw actionable insights from that data – are key to business success in today’s economy. However, only about one-third (34 per cent) say their business has a comprehensive data strategy in place and even fewer (31 per cent) feel their organization is a data-led business.

As data has become one of the world’s most valuable assets, it’s imperative for organizations to know how to gather, store, analyze, and govern that data effectively.

HOOPP is ahead of the curve in Canada as they are already working on an effective data strategy leveraging Microsoft Azure’s comprehensive data platform to inform decision making. By utilizing Azure Synapse Analytics, a limitless analytics service that brings together data integration, enterprise data warehousing, and big data analytics, the teams at HOOPP are able to access a safe and secure environment for a single source of data analytics to enable timely decisions and improve member services.

“A great example of this is the digital journey of our members through our website, said Martin Tyborski, Director, PSG Data Platform at HOOPP. “We’re able to see how our members are interacting with our services, if they’re getting value, and who we’re leaving behind to provide coherent insights for our business partners – this enables us to be less prescriptive and more predictive.”

This adoption of new technology and a data strategy has also meant HOOPP needed to put the right security and safeguards in place around their infrastructure to protect sensitive information. HOOPP’s in-house IT team recently launched iGuard, a foundational fraud detection user access monitoring tool utilized to verify records and protect data and transactions.

In the past, a service of this magnitude would take years to build, and several resources to manage, however, with cloud native applications, HOOPP can set up an instance, scale and manage, all within the confines of their current IT team. Leveraging solutions like Azure Cosmos DB, a fully managed database service, teams have the ability to offload the administrative burdens of operating and scaling distributed databases to Azure. This means they don’t have to worry about managing VMs, hardware provisioning, setup and configuration, capacity, replication, software patching, or cluster scaling and can focus on more customer centric activities. HOOPP is currently enhancing iGuard with Microsoft AI and Machine learning solutions to identify user patterns and identify risks

“iGuard is a key piece to our digital transformation journey to provide the safeguards that we need when it comes to our members’ data,” said Zach Millis, PSG InfoSec Lead at HOOPP. “By further enhancing with AI and machine learning, we are able to identify user patterns and risks to best protect sensitive information.”

iGuard is just one example of how HOOPP is leveraging the Microsoft cloud to bring new solutions to life, and we look forward to collaborating on many other projects in the years to come.

It is story’s like HOOPP’s that showcase the importance of having a trusted cloud provider, establishing a data strategy and putting the right security safeguards in place. All these steps are imperative to ensuring success in today’s increasingly world.

If you are interested in learning more about how to establish and effective data strategy with Azure, please see below:

Register for the next webinar on Azure in our Cloud Digital Series here http://www.aka.ms/CloudDigitalSeries

To explore fundamentals and technical learning on Azure, please visit: https://aka.ms/MicrosofTrainingDays

For more learning resources on how Azure and other Microsoft solutions can help your organization, please visit https://www.aka.ms/MSLearn

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The types of cyber threats over the past couple of years included the recent crippling of Sunwing Airlines operations due to a data breach and the cyberattack on Newfoundland and Labrador’s health care system. Those carrying out these threats are primarily:

1. Nation State Actors – this includes Russia, China, Iran and North Korea that carry out attacks leaving billions of dollars in damage. Observations from the war in Ukraine have highlighted how Russian cyber-attacks further impact civilians in conflict.
2. Organized Cyber Criminals – these have varying capabilities. They function in a professional capacity within a parallel illicit economy, making hundreds of billions of dollars and operating out of countries where the risk of prosecution is minimal. Some act in collaboration with nation states.
3. Private Sector Offensive Actors – these are companies that build spyware to spy on citizens. Citizen Lab at the Munk School for Global Affairs and Public Policy is engaged in some excellent interdisciplinary work to bring details about these actors into the open.

Learning from cyber incidents and responding to cybercrime requires full participation from governments, tech companies, the private sector, academia and individuals.

Developing and agreeing to norms of behaviour for nation states and for technology companies (the Tech Accord is an excellent example) is essential to international deterrence and resiliency building. While it may have been perceived as a bold statement in 2017, the notion of a Digital Geneva Convention is now under serious consideration.

To counter and stop cyber threats, organizations must foster a culture of security. Two easy cyber hygiene steps are: to keep systems up to date, and to implement multifactor authentication. According to Hewie, “95% of attacks would be stopped by enabling multifactor authentication and right now only 22% of Microsoft customers have this turned on.”

Fostering a culture of security also requires leading with empathy. Ongoing security training for staff is essential. Equally, Hewie advises that “these are professional attack groups, and humans aren’t going to be perfect, so making a space for employees to feel comfortable to report is important.”

The post The Growing Risk of Cybercrime and Protecting Cybersecurity of the Planet appeared first on Microsoft Industry Blogs - Canada.

The adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) offers seemingly limitless potential for organizations across industries and sectors, including operational efficiencies, real-time data-informed decision making, and even augmenting human creativity and innovation. However, a recent survey from Microsoft Canada found that just 12 per cent of business decision makers are currently using AI / machine learning, and only another 15 per cent have plans to start using it in the foreseeable future.

To help organizations recognize the benefits and accelerate the adoption of AI and other emerging technologies in Canada, we have created The Microsoft Canada Artificial Intelligence Partner Advisory Board (aiPAB). This industry group is comprised of senior-level experts in data and AI from Microsoft Canada, certified Microsoft partners and advisors from academia, industry and non-profit organizations who come together to tackle pressing issues in the Canadian technology landscape. Board members include Adastra, AltaML, Avanade, BDO-Lixar, E&Y, IBM, KPMG, MNP Digital, Moov.ai, NTT Digital, PureFacts, Slalom, and our Advisors, the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute (Amii) and IDC.

At Microsoft, we are privileged to work with innovative business-decision makers who are leveraging new technology to transform their organizations. We see first-hand the endless possibilities that AI can provide – whether it’s chatbots to give virtual support, improved cancer screening for healthcare organizations, or fraud detection for financial firms. The goal of our new aiPAB is to help accelerate partner innovation and encourage Canadian businesses to unlock the value that new technology brings.

The Board meets regularly and frequently forms subcommittees to collaboratively tackle tangible initiatives that we hope will raise the knowledge, awareness, and adoption of AI in Canada. To learn more about Microsoft Canada’s aiPAB and some innovative AI projects conducted by Board members, you can view our 2022 Case Study Booklet or watch the first aiPAB webinar in a series about embarking on your AI journey.

ABOUT THE SURVEY
These results are drawn from a survey conducted by Fuse Insights on behalf of Microsoft Canada. A total of 658 business decision-makers from across Canada, representing a range of company sizes and industries, were surveyed online in English and French in December 2021.

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As we embrace the opportunities and challenges of the future in the world of work and beyond, it’s technology that will continue to be one of the leading economic drivers of our time. At Microsoft, we recognize our unique responsibility in helping to drive innovation in Canada and we’re working with communities, changemakers and partners across the country to move this forward. This includes equitable access to technology and skills training to ensure inclusive opportunities for all Canadians, affordable technology for non-profits and start-ups, and a strong technology ecosystem to enable business transformation across all sectors and an innovative public sector.

Together with Ernst & Young LLP (EY), we’re pleased to share our first ever Microsoft Canada Economic and Social Impact Report. This report confirms what we’ve long known – that the investments we’ve made in Canada since opening our first office here in 1985 are helping to grow Canada’s innovation economy and are driving impact through building inclusive economic opportunity, supporting fundamental rights and addressing climate change for a sustainable future.  

Our 15,000+ partners and the investment we’ve made in cloud infrastructure have created almost 300,000 jobs and contributed $37 billion to Canada’s economy. And that’s on top of nearly 5,000 fulltime employees. This is all done while keeping trust top of mind, spanning privacy, security, digital safety, responsible AI, and transparency. Without it, progress is not possible.

A key to Canada’s strength is its talent and we have continued to invest to train the Canadian workforce for the changing digital economy. Since 2020, Microsoft Canada has provided in-demand technology skilling to more than 1 million Canadians through Microsoft’s Global Skills Initiative and, in 2021, donated more than $125 million in cash, software, and technology services to non-profits. And through our collaboration with the Digital Technology Supercluster, Microsoft Canada has supported 30 projects that are currently valued at $190million, boosting innovation and industry growth from coast to coast.   

Satya Nadella introduced our mission to empower every person and organization on the planet to achieve more when he took the helm as CEO of Microsoft and it’s no secret that we’ve been doing that in Canada for almost 40 years – helping Canada’s public sector and all Canadian organizations lead now and into the future.

The post Building the future together: Microsoft ​Canada​ Economic and Social Impact Report appeared first on Microsoft Industry Blogs - Canada.

Our work with the Ontario Public Service (OPS) is a great example of this in the public sector. OPS has embraced a digital-first culture to continually innovate and modernize the delivery of essential services across healthcare, transportation, social services, education and more. But to enable digital transformation and continually innovate, you first need to empower your employees with the skills they need build and manage digital solutions. This is particularly important in the public sector, which has unique privacy, data residency and compliance needs. 

The OPS Microsoft Hackathon was created to confront these challenges head on. This annual initiative brings together employees across both organizations to collaborate, share digital skills and solve for real-world challenges that will make a difference in the lives of Ontarians. In previous OPS Microsoft hackathons, we’ve seen OPS employees create innovations such as the development of a single repository where Ontarians can create personal profiles to easily apply for government services, and a smart license plate solution. 

The 2022 OPS Microsoft Cloud Hackathon challenge was “Faster, Simpler, Better”. This aligns to the need for government ministries and departments to urgently identify the opportunities for automation, as well as the technology solutions to deliver. Immediate opportunities exist across the spectrum of common processes and procedures that government organizations must provide across the front and back office, such as Freedom of Information requests, contract management, employee, stakeholder and citizen engagement, grants management and corporate policy, to name a few.   

The annual 3-day hackathon hosted more than 800 attendees and resulted in 18 submissions from hackathon teams. Keynote addresses, ideation sessions and training workshops with the Microsoft Technology Centre around innovation with Power Platform, Security, Microsoft Teams helped participants showcase creative ideas around security, accessibility, and collaboration.

Microsoft is dedicated to ensuring that Canada stays ahead of the curve by empowering all government employees with the skills they need to face today’s challenges. Canada (along with the rest of the world) is experiencing a talent shortage, and through our skilling initiatives and programs, we’re helping governments narrow this gap by providing job-candidates and employees with the knowledge and skills they need to build and execute digital strategies.  

Our Microsoft Canada Skills Program is now available at 22 post-secondary institutions across Canada, including 9 in Ontario. This program allows students to acquire in-demand cloud, data and AI skills and Microsoft certifications alongside their institutions’ credentials, enhancing their employability as they enter the job market in the public sector and beyond.  

To learn more about Microsoft’s skilling initiatives and programs, visit Microsoft Training Days 

To learn more about how Microsoft empowers Canadian governments to find smarter, more efficient, and more cost-effective ways to work and serve citizens and residents, visit  Empowering Canadian Government to do more.  

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According to Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance and the World Economic Forum, adoption of AI solutions in banking has become more mainstream: a majority of financial services companies say they have implemented AI technology in business domains like risk management and revenue generation. As AI gains popularity in banking, financial institutions are building on their existing solutions to solve increasingly complex challenges. 

Andrew Moor, Equitable Bank’s President and Chief Executive Officer, is committed to Equitable’s mission to provide better banking services remotely through digital channels. “Equitable Bank is Canada’s Challenger Bank^TM, a digitally enabled bank,” Moor says. “We don’t have branches on the street, but we have a strong digital presence. Microsoft Cloud for Financial Services enables us to scale and provide added value to support Canadians. We have about 325,000 customers today, and we continue to grow fairly quickly.” 

• 80% of banks are highly aware of the potential benefits presented by AI and machine learning.¹ 

• 75% of respondents at banks with over $100 billion in assets say they’re currently implementing AI strategies, compared with 46% at banks with less than $100 billion in assets.¹ 

• 89% of US respondents say they use mobile banking channels, and 70% of say mobile banking has become the primary way they access their accounts.² 

• Certain AI use cases have already showed impressive results—chatbots will save banks up to $7.3 billion worldwide by 2023.³ 

Predictions for the future of digital financial services include AI-powered innovations in faster payments, digital identity security, open banking, and mobile banking. As customer demand for a wide and secure array of digital financial services grows, financial service leaders are rising to meet the challenges, freeing people from the constraints of brick-and-mortar locations and making lives better.  

Equitable Bank relies on having great partners. “We know what we’re good at in facing our customers,” says Moor. “But having Microsoft behind us—supporting our infrastructure, building to scale with cloud—means we don’t need to be worrying about improvements in technology. We can just focus on making our customers’ experience better.”  

Get into all the transformative things Microsoft and partners are accomplishing with AI with Azure for financial services.

Learn more about empowering intelligent financial service in Microsoft’s e-Book: Reimagining Modern Financial Services

SOURCES: 

1. Eleni Digalaki, “The impact of artificial intelligence in the banking sector & how AI is being used in 2022,” Business Insider, February 2, 2022. 
2. Alicia Phaneuf, “The disruptive trends & companies transforming digital banking services in 2022,” Insider Intelligence, January 4, 2022. 
3. Sam Smith, “Bank cost savings via chatbots to reach $7.3 billion by 2023,” Juniper Research, February 20, 2019. 

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