It’s no secret that agriculture and agri-food are major contributors to Canada’s GDP, accounting for significant sales within our borders, and serving as a vital export component. Nor is it a secret that our high-tech innovators are world-class. The Canadian Agri-Food Automation & Intelligence Network's (We'll go with "CAAIN" from now on!) job is to bridge the divide that tends to separate these two vital sectors, and to facilitate the kind of collaboration that drives real results. How do we do that? By paying for stuff. That’s right. We manage a pot of money Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada gave us to support important advances in three key agtech focus areas: 1. Automation and robotics 2. Data integration, analysis and decision-making, and 3. Smart farms The way it works is that individuals or organisations with big agricultural or agri-food innovation ideas submit proposals when we launch a competitive process. To be considered, groups must: • Be entirely Canadian and commit to keeping their technology in Canada (remember what the “C” in CAAIN stands for) and • Include at least two small or medium enterprises (SMEs are defined as companies with no more than 499 employees and revenue not exceeding $50M…after all, one of our purposes is to stimulate economic growth) But wait…there’s more. As our name suggests, CAAIN is a network. That means we are about more than simply funding worthy innovative agri-food research initiatives. Above all, we are a connector. If you are a player in the agricultural, agri-food, or high-tech sector…join us. If you are a post-secondary institution with a focus on agriculture or high technology…join us. If you are a VC operation looking to invest in Canada’s future…join us. Membership in CAAIN has its privileges, including becoming part of a community that will help diversify and drive our nation’s economy sustainably in the coming decades. If what we're doing resonates, let’s talk.