MONTREAL, Que. — Logistics and transportation cluster CargoM and the Montreal Port Authority have received $500,000 to develop a tool for the rapid distribution of essential goods amid the war on Covid-19.

The solution enables the prioritization of critical cargo arriving by container at the Port of Montreal.

The funding comes from Scale AI, the artificial intelligence supercluster, which recently called for solutions that can help Canada meet the challenges posed by the pandemic.

More than 120 projects were submitted in just three weeks. Eight of them, including the cargo solution, have been approved. The companies will receive $3.4 million in funding from Scale AI.

“With a data management and processing system already well established, we are able to rapidly deploy additional solutions that can optimize the process of unloading and reduce container dwell times to less than 12 hours for critical cargo,” said Daniel Dagenais, vice-president operations at the Montreal Port Authority.

Mathieu Charbonneau, executive director of CargoM said the project highlights both the collaboration between supply-chain actors and Montreal’s strengths in artificial intelligence.

The logistics and transportation industry in Greater Montreal accounts for 120,000 jobs, 6,000 businesses and over $4.3 billion in economic benefits for the city.

Scale AI is an investment and innovation hub that accelerates the rapid adoption and integration of artificial intelligence. It is one of Canada’s five innovation superclusters.