Latest news with #SFU
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Canada needs to invest in its sovereign computing capacity if it's to keep up with the U.S.
Canada is the birthplace of many core artificial intelligence technologies that are changing the way we live and work. For example, in the 1980s, far-sighted investment by our government through organizations such as the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada enabled Canadian university researchers to pioneer technologies that underlie modern commercial tools like ChatGPT. In spite of this strong start, we have fallen behind many other countries in the commercialization and adoption of the very technologies we helped to create. We need a new generation of far-sighted investments by government, and strong collaboration between industry and academia to restore Canada's leadership position and build the digital infrastructure Canadians need to thrive in the 21st century. Canadians are avid consumers of digital services — both at work and at home. But they are accessing data and computational power from data centres in the United States when they log into a new AI-enabled productivity tool in their workplaces. Canada has abundant clean energy and a favourable climate for hosting the digital infrastructure we need to do our work, yet we nonetheless import digital services. Today we don't have much choice; the tools are being developed abroad, deployed abroad and 'shipped' to us over the internet. Some large U.S. digital services companies have deployed capacity north of the border, and that is a good thing. However, there is a high likelihood that their Canadian data centres are filled with infrastructure made in China by American or Chinese companies. There is a benefit to having these data centres on our soil, but this offers the minimum possible benefit to the Canadian economy. We need sovereign computing — and data — capacity to support the development and delivery of digital services by Canadian companies. And we should be supporting Canadian companies such as Montreal-based hardware provider Hypertec Group Inc. At Simon Fraser University (SFU), we operate Canada's largest academic supercomputing centre: the Cedar Supercomputing Centre. With the support of our colleagues from across the country, we enable 17,000 researchers and industry partners to run 100,000 'jobs' per day on SFU infrastructure. We have, for decades, delivered shared digital infrastructure to meet the stringent demands across a broad range of critical areas, including AI, clean tech, aerospace, drug design, medical imaging and agriculture. However, we have never been given the mandate to enable the growth of Canadian hardware providers or to directly support the compute and data needs of Canadian companies. Expanding the scale and scope of our domestic supercomputing facilities is a smart investment to efficiently deploy AI infrastructure that supports both Canadian hardware and Canadian industry use. Sharing infrastructure between academia and industry leads to economies of scale, ease of collaboration between the two sectors and provides training platforms for Canadians to prepare them for rewarding careers. Some say that Canada cannot compete in the era of $100-billion data centre investments by trillion-dollar U.S. companies. I disagree. We need not be relegated to building a branch plant economy in the AI space. Thanks to investments in our university system over the past 40 years, Canada has one of the strongest AI talent bases in the world. In other words, we have the talent base to work smarter. Opinion: Canada needs to start building as AI takes hold Bell announces plans to open six AI data centres Working smarter means leveraging expertise in the delivery of digital capacity in our universities, using our purchasing power to fill our data centres with hardware designed in Canada and providing platforms for Canadian innovators to create new digital services in Canada that can be exported around the world. Dugan O'Neil is vice-president, Research and Innovation, at Simon Fraser University. Sign in to access your portfolio
Calgary Herald
6 days ago
- Business
- Calgary Herald
Canada needs to invest in its sovereign computing capacity if it's to keep up with the U.S.
Article content Canada is the birthplace of many core artificial intelligence technologies that are changing the way we live and work. For example, in the 1980s, far-sighted investment by our government through organizations such as the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada enabled Canadian university researchers to pioneer technologies that underlie modern commercial tools like ChatGPT. Article content Article content In spite of this strong start, we have fallen behind many other countries in the commercialization and adoption of the very technologies we helped to create. We need a new generation of far-sighted investments by government, and strong collaboration between industry and academia to restore Canada's leadership position and build the digital infrastructure Canadians need to thrive in the 21st century. Article content Article content Canadians are avid consumers of digital services — both at work and at home. But they are accessing data and computational power from data centres in the United States when they log into a new AI-enabled productivity tool in their workplaces. Article content Canada has abundant clean energy and a favourable climate for hosting the digital infrastructure we need to do our work, yet we nonetheless import digital services. Today we don't have much choice; the tools are being developed abroad, deployed abroad and 'shipped' to us over the internet. Article content Article content Some large U.S. digital services companies have deployed capacity north of the border, and that is a good thing. However, there is a high likelihood that their Canadian data centres are filled with infrastructure made in China by American or Chinese companies. Article content Article content There is a benefit to having these data centres on our soil, but this offers the minimum possible benefit to the Canadian economy. We need sovereign computing — and data — capacity to support the development and delivery of digital services by Canadian companies. And we should be supporting Canadian companies such as Montreal-based hardware provider Hypertec Group Inc. Article content At Simon Fraser University (SFU), we operate Canada's largest academic supercomputing centre: the Cedar Supercomputing Centre. With the support of our colleagues from across the country, we enable 17,000 researchers and industry partners to run 100,000 'jobs' per day on SFU infrastructure.
The Province
28-05-2025
- Health
- The Province
Why WHO's diet guidelines are unrealistic for many people around the world
The World Health Organization's heart-health guidelines overlook obstacles faced in low- and middle-income countries, says SFU expert SFU professor of health sciences Scott Lear. An unhealthy diet and lack of physical activity are leading global risks to health, according to the World Health Organization. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Exclusive articles by top sports columnists Patrick Johnston, Ben Kuzma, J.J. Abrams and others. Plus, Canucks Report, Sports and Headline News newsletters and events. Unlimited online access to The Province and 15 news sites with one account. The Province ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on. Daily puzzles and comics, including the New York Times Crossword. Support local journalism. 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Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors But the problem, an SFU researcher says, is that advice is based on rich-world premises: In high-wage countries, fruit and vegetables don't take as much out of household income, and an hour at the gym or paddling after work are generally affordable choices. 'Physical activity patterns are clearly different based on the development of a country, and based on individual or household income,' said Scott Lear, professor of health sciences and chair of the Pfizer/Heart and Stroke Foundation's cardiovascular prevention research. 'We can't always take our lessons from high-income countries, develop (international) guidelines, and then apply them to what is 80 per cent of the rest of the world.' The study Lear was part of — Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology, or PURE — began in India in 2002 and grew to include 28 countries on five continents, with 212,000 people participating, examining society's influences on chronic noncommunicable disease around the world. Essential reading for hockey fans who eat, sleep, Canucks, repeat. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Lear's focus was on cardiovascular disease, which is the leading cause of death worldwide, accounting for 80 per cent of deaths. The WHO's diet guidelines suggest at least five portions of fruit and vegetables a day (excluding starchy roots), but that's just unrealistic for a lot of people, Lear said. 'It's another thing I found interesting is the finding about fruits and vegetables,' he said, 'and how farmers in low-income countries are priced out. 'Field workers say if they eat what they grow, they lose so much money by not selling it. 'For many of these farmers, getting the recommended minimum of five servings of fruits and vegetables a day would eat up 50 per cent of their household income.' Another thing that is mainly taken for granted by the WHO, Lear said, is that any movement is good movement. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Tell that to someone working in a field or mine all day, or a stone mason. 'I'm looking out my window and they're landscaping. One of the guys with a sledgehammer was breaking up the patio. He spent hours doing that,' Lear said. 'You wouldn't go to the gym and do hours of endless bicep curls or bench presses.' Then there's the commute to work. In lower-income countries, a lot of people take an hour and a half or more going each way, often by foot. 'There's a stark contrast between a daily sidewalk stroll in Vancouver's West End and walking to work in New Delhi, the world's most polluted city, where many people cannot afford to drive and public transit is lacking,' Lear said. 'We can't assume that life is the same everywhere. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'The environments in which people live and the kind of work they do makes a huge difference to their health.' PURE data is collected every three years and includes a core survey, physical measurements such as blood pressure, weight, height, lung capacity and waist-hip circumference, and a questionnaire. On top of focusing on exercise and diet, Lear's study identified several other causes behind the causes of cardiovascular disease worldwide, including nutrition, education, tobacco use, air pollution, climate change, social isolation and access to medication, treatment and health care. About 87 per cent of PURE participants live in low- or middle-income countries, uniquely positioning the study to examine individual risk factors related to urbanization, Lear said. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Although these findings are based on global data, they also reflect the microcosms of different regions within a single city, or region, he said. Lear joined the study 20 years ago. 'Early in my career, I thought, okay, everybody should be eating these foods, everybody should be physically active, and everything will be great. 'As I participated in the study, I started to realize that's a very high-income-country privilege. It's been eye-opening for me.' gordmcintyre@ Read More For more health news and content around diseases, conditions, wellness, healthy living, drugs, treatments and more, head to – a member of the Postmedia Network. Vancouver Canucks News Vancouver Canucks Hockey Vancouver Canucks
Vancouver Sun
27-05-2025
- Health
- Vancouver Sun
Why WHO's diet guidelines are unrealistic for many people around the world
An unhealthy diet and lack of physical activity are leading global risks to health, according to the World Health Organization . But the problem, an SFU researcher says, is that advice is based on rich-world premises: In high-wage countries, fruit and vegetables don't take as much out of household income, and an hour at the gym or paddling after work are generally affordable choices. 'Physical activity patterns are clearly different based on the development of a country, and based on individual or household income,' said Scott Lear , professor of health sciences and chair of the Pfizer/Heart and Stroke Foundation's cardiovascular prevention research. Discover the best of B.C.'s recipes, restaurants and wine. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of West Coast Table will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. 'We can't always take our lessons from high-income countries, develop (international) guidelines, and then apply them to what is 80 per cent of the rest of the world.' The study Lear was part of — Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology, or PURE — began in India in 2002 and grew to include 28 countries on five continents, with 212,000 people participating, examining society's influences on chronic noncommunicable disease around the world. Lear's focus was on cardiovascular disease, which is the leading cause of death worldwide, accounting for 80 per cent of deaths. The WHO's diet guidelines suggest at least five portions of fruit and vegetables a day (excluding starchy roots), but that's just unrealistic for a lot of people, Lear said. 'It's another thing I found interesting is the finding about fruits and vegetables,' he said, 'and how farmers in low-income countries are priced out. 'Field workers say if they eat what they grow, they lose so much money by not selling it. 'For many of these farmers, getting the recommended minimum of five servings of fruits and vegetables a day would eat up 50 per cent of their household income.' Another thing that is mainly taken for granted by the WHO, Lear said, is that any movement is good movement. Tell that to someone working in a field or mine all day, or a stone mason. 'I'm looking out my window and they're landscaping. One of the guys with a sledgehammer was breaking up the patio. He spent hours doing that,' Lear said. 'You wouldn't go to the gym and do hours of endless bicep curls or bench presses.' Then there's the commute to work. In lower-income countries, a lot of people take an hour and a half or more going each way, often by foot. 'There's a stark contrast between a daily sidewalk stroll in Vancouver's West End and walking to work in New Delhi, the world's most polluted city, where many people cannot afford to drive and public transit is lacking,' Lear said. 'We can't assume that life is the same everywhere. 'The environments in which people live and the kind of work they do makes a huge difference to their health.' PURE data is collected every three years and includes a core survey, physical measurements such as blood pressure, weight, height, lung capacity and waist-hip circumference, and a questionnaire. On top of focusing on exercise and diet, Lear's study identified several other causes behind the causes of cardiovascular disease worldwide, including nutrition, education, tobacco use, air pollution, climate change, social isolation and access to medication, treatment and health care. About 87 per cent of PURE participants live in low- or middle-income countries, uniquely positioning the study to examine individual risk factors related to urbanization, Lear said. Although these findings are based on global data, they also reflect the microcosms of different regions within a single city, or region, he said. Lear joined the study 20 years ago. 'Early in my career, I thought, okay, everybody should be eating these foods, everybody should be physically active, and everything will be great. 'As I participated in the study, I started to realize that's a very high-income-country privilege. It's been eye-opening for me.' gordmcintyre@ For more health news and content around diseases, conditions, wellness, healthy living, drugs, treatments and more, head to – a member of the Postmedia Network.
Ottawa Citizen
27-05-2025
- Health
- Ottawa Citizen
Why WHO's diet guidelines are unrealistic for many people around the world
Article content An unhealthy diet and lack of physical activity are leading global risks to health, according to the World Health Organization. Article content Article content But the problem, an SFU researcher says, is that advice is based on rich-world premises: In high-wage countries, fruit and vegetables don't take as much out of household income, and an hour at the gym or paddling after work are generally affordable choices. Article content Article content 'Physical activity patterns are clearly different based on the development of a country, and based on individual or household income,' said Scott Lear, professor of health sciences and chair of the Pfizer/Heart and Stroke Foundation's cardiovascular prevention research. Article content Article content 'We can't always take our lessons from high-income countries, develop (international) guidelines, and then apply them to what is 80 per cent of the rest of the world.' Article content The study Lear was part of — Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology, or PURE — began in India in 2002 and grew to include 28 countries on five continents, with 212,000 people participating, examining society's influences on chronic noncommunicable disease around the world. Article content Lear's focus was on cardiovascular disease, which is the leading cause of death worldwide, accounting for 80 per cent of deaths. Article content Article content The WHO's diet guidelines suggest at least five portions of fruit and vegetables a day (excluding starchy roots), but that's just unrealistic for a lot of people, Lear said. Article content Article content 'It's another thing I found interesting is the finding about fruits and vegetables,' he said, 'and how farmers in low-income countries are priced out. Article content 'Field workers say if they eat what they grow, they lose so much money by not selling it. Article content 'For many of these farmers, getting the recommended minimum of five servings of fruits and vegetables a day would eat up 50 per cent of their household income.' Article content Another thing that is mainly taken for granted by the WHO, Lear said, is that any movement is good movement.
