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Québec Annual Lecture in London with Element AI

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Public affairs

It was full house for the Québec Annual Lecture (QAL) 2019 on artificial intelligence in London.

Loupe

Organised by the Québec Government Office in London (DGQL) since 2010, the QAL highlights every year the excellence and creativity of Québecers who have greatly contributed to the advancement of various fields of human activity on the international stage.

This year, our guest of honour was Jean-François Gagné, co-founder and CEO of Element AI. Element AI appeared virtually overnight; In two years the company attracted over $250M US in funding and 400+ employees with its bold mission of democratising AI.

In front of over 300 guests, James Harding, former Times editor and former BBC news director, interviewed Mr. Gagné about the realities of running Canada’s fastest growing startup, the years leading up to this moment, and how artificial intelligence could change our relationship with technology. The subjects aroused great interest in the audience.

The conference was held on the 11th November 2019 at the Royal Institution (Where Science Lives), a highly symbolic venue, where Michael Faraday discovered the laws of electromagnetism.

We are very proud of the success of this event which attracted an even larger audience than last year. All the services of the DGQL (Politic and public affairs, economic affairs and cultural service) contributed to this success.

The conference was a unique platform to raise awareness of Québec in the United Kingdom, to highlight its leadership in artificial intelligence and to encourage British companies to do business with Québec.

During the reception, the guests networked with the DGQL team. They also explored Montreal under the snow and Québec in summer, thanks to our virtual reality helmet. We also promoted Québec's cultural agenda for the coming months in the United Kingdom, Ireland and the Nordic countries, as well as the job fairs organized by Immigration Québec and Montreal International in the coming weeks.

Thank you to la Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, Drake Star Partners and FASKEN for your support in allowing this fantastic Québec Annual Lecture to take place.

The QAL was broadcast live on our Facebook page.