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Canadian medical startups get major boost as Ottawa orders vital supplies in fight against COVID-19 – The Globe and Mail

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‘Our lives have changed unequivocally, regardless if this is a temporary surge,’ Thornhill Medical CEO Lesley Gouldie, seen here with a ventilator at their Toronto facility on March 31, 2020, says.

Christopher Katsarov/The Globe and Mail

Canadian medical device startups have struggled for years to sell to governments at home, making it hard to persuade foreign buyers to follow suit. The onset of the global COVID-19 crisis has changed that.

As Ottawa scrambles to secure vital medical supplies for the fight against the virus, it has turned to domestic companies big and small to help, rapidly signing orders to secure millions of masks, coronavirus test kits and other items made on Canadian soil. This week, the federal government said it had signed deals with medical device suppliers Spartan BioScience Inc. of Ottawa and Toronto’s Thornhill Research Inc. – contracts that could transform both companies from small operators into global players.

Spartan, whose portable DNA testing machines can determine within 30 minutes whether a patient is positive for coronavirus, will supply 100 of its devices, along with a million test-kit cartridges. Co-founder and chief executive Paul Lem says Ottawa plans to deploy the machines to remote and Indigenous communities, and to airport screeners and border crossing agents so they can determine on site if people have the virus, rather than sending samples away to central labs and waiting several days for results.

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While government procurement deals typically take months to complete, the $78-million contract closed just five days after Ottawa signed a letter of intent with Spartan. The company has made deals worth another $80-million with the Ontario and Alberta governments. (Both it and Thornhill have also seen a surge in interest from foreign buyers.)

“How does a company of 70 people get $150-million in purchase orders in one week from [the] government?” Mr. Lem says. “I never knew they could move so fast – but they can when there’s a public-health crisis and every day matters.”

Prepandemic, Spartan had some niche success selling testing solutions for doctors treating heart patients and building managers monitoring toxic bacteria in their water. Once Spartan gets Health Canada clearance for its tests, the company says it will take eight to 12 weeks for its local supplier of test cartridges to fully ramp up its manufacturing capacity, although it expects to begin shipments within weeks. Taiwanese manufacturing giant Wistron Corp. makes the DNA testing machines under contract.

A nurse holds a swab to test a patient at a drive-through clinic at Ste-Justine Children Hospital in Montreal, on Wednesday.

Paul Chiasson/The Canadian Press

As for Thornhill, it makes portable intensive care units with ventilators that generate oxygen from the air, under the brand name Moves SLC. Ottawa has ordered 500 of the ICUs, and Ontario has asked for 40. Until the pandemic hit, the startup had 40 employees and had sold 200 of the rugged units to military customers in the United States, Singapore, Australia and Israel (the Canadian Armed Forces took a pass).

“Our lives have changed unequivocally, regardless if this is a temporary surge,” Thornhill CEO Lesley Gouldie says. “People now know about us all over the world. I think we’ll have a sustaining business model post–COVID-19.”

To meet the surge in demand, Thornhill, which was spun out of Toronto’s University Health Network in 2004, reached a deal with Linamar Corp. to assemble 400 units a month at the auto-parts supplier’s plant in Guelph, Ont. (At Thornhill’s own facilities, its monthly capacity is 50).

“It’s a tragedy and crisis that we’re in, so I hate that it was the catalyst,” Linamar CEO Linda Hasenfratz says. “But it’s an opportunity for them to take their product to a global stage given there is a dire global need for these types of products.”

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Observers in the innovation sector say the speed at which these deals have come together stands in stark contrast to normal times, when cash-starved startups either didn’t have the time to wait out long public-sector procurement cycles or found themselves frozen out as buyers turned to larger, more established suppliers. It’s an issue that has come up in industry and government reports for years – most recently in a 2018 economic-strategy report published by a government-appointed panel of health and bioscience experts.

“The crisis has clearly changed the speed in which we’re operating,” Innovation, Science and Industry Minister Navdeep Bains says. “There’s a recognition that we need to be quick and nimble.”

But many are wondering whether Ottawa’s rapid-fire procurement is temporary or a sign of permanent changes. “The remarkable speed to adopt Canadian innovation during our current crisis makes me optimistic that a new culture will be adopted from the top,” says Brenda Irwin, a health technology venture capitalist based in Vancouver.

Armen Bakirtzian, the CEO of Kitchener, Ont.-based medical tech company Intellijoint Surgical Inc., co-authored that 2018 report. “It depends on the federal government’s opinion of the need for innovation in our health-care system, since the provinces struggle so much in acquiring it themselves,” he says. “This gives me optimism that the federal government can procure innovation on behalf of the provinces. But the question is, will they close that door when the crisis is over?”

Benjamin Bergen, executive director of the Council of Canadian Innovators, a lobby group for tech companies, hopes not. The government’s moves to tap into the homegrown market, he says, “offer a valuable lesson that should shape both future procurement policies and strategic investments going forward.”

Sign up for the Coronavirus Update newsletter to read the day’s essential coronavirus news, features and explainers written by Globe reporters.

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Ottawa orders TikTok’s Canadian arm to be dissolved

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The federal government is ordering the dissolution of TikTok’s Canadian business after a national security review of the Chinese company behind the social media platform, but stopped short of ordering people to stay off the app.

Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne announced the government’s “wind up” demand Wednesday, saying it is meant to address “risks” related to ByteDance Ltd.’s establishment of TikTok Technology Canada Inc.

“The decision was based on the information and evidence collected over the course of the review and on the advice of Canada’s security and intelligence community and other government partners,” he said in a statement.

The announcement added that the government is not blocking Canadians’ access to the TikTok application or their ability to create content.

However, it urged people to “adopt good cybersecurity practices and assess the possible risks of using social media platforms and applications, including how their information is likely to be protected, managed, used and shared by foreign actors, as well as to be aware of which country’s laws apply.”

Champagne’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment seeking details about what evidence led to the government’s dissolution demand, how long ByteDance has to comply and why the app is not being banned.

A TikTok spokesperson said in a statement that the shutdown of its Canadian offices will mean the loss of hundreds of well-paying local jobs.

“We will challenge this order in court,” the spokesperson said.

“The TikTok platform will remain available for creators to find an audience, explore new interests and for businesses to thrive.”

The federal Liberals ordered a national security review of TikTok in September 2023, but it was not public knowledge until The Canadian Press reported in March that it was investigating the company.

At the time, it said the review was based on the expansion of a business, which it said constituted the establishment of a new Canadian entity. It declined to provide any further details about what expansion it was reviewing.

A government database showed a notification of new business from TikTok in June 2023. It said Network Sense Ventures Ltd. in Toronto and Vancouver would engage in “marketing, advertising, and content/creator development activities in relation to the use of the TikTok app in Canada.”

Even before the review, ByteDance and TikTok were lightning rod for privacy and safety concerns because Chinese national security laws compel organizations in the country to assist with intelligence gathering.

Such concerns led the U.S. House of Representatives to pass a bill in March designed to ban TikTok unless its China-based owner sells its stake in the business.

Champagne’s office has maintained Canada’s review was not related to the U.S. bill, which has yet to pass.

Canada’s review was carried out through the Investment Canada Act, which allows the government to investigate any foreign investment with potential to might harm national security.

While cabinet can make investors sell parts of the business or shares, Champagne has said the act doesn’t allow him to disclose details of the review.

Wednesday’s dissolution order was made in accordance with the act.

The federal government banned TikTok from its mobile devices in February 2023 following the launch of an investigation into the company by federal and provincial privacy commissioners.

— With files from Anja Karadeglija in Ottawa

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Here is how to prepare your online accounts for when you die

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LONDON (AP) — Most people have accumulated a pile of data — selfies, emails, videos and more — on their social media and digital accounts over their lifetimes. What happens to it when we die?

It’s wise to draft a will spelling out who inherits your physical assets after you’re gone, but don’t forget to take care of your digital estate too. Friends and family might treasure files and posts you’ve left behind, but they could get lost in digital purgatory after you pass away unless you take some simple steps.

Here’s how you can prepare your digital life for your survivors:

Apple

The iPhone maker lets you nominate a “ legacy contact ” who can access your Apple account’s data after you die. The company says it’s a secure way to give trusted people access to photos, files and messages. To set it up you’ll need an Apple device with a fairly recent operating system — iPhones and iPads need iOS or iPadOS 15.2 and MacBooks needs macOS Monterey 12.1.

For iPhones, go to settings, tap Sign-in & Security and then Legacy Contact. You can name one or more people, and they don’t need an Apple ID or device.

You’ll have to share an access key with your contact. It can be a digital version sent electronically, or you can print a copy or save it as a screenshot or PDF.

Take note that there are some types of files you won’t be able to pass on — including digital rights-protected music, movies and passwords stored in Apple’s password manager. Legacy contacts can only access a deceased user’s account for three years before Apple deletes the account.

Google

Google takes a different approach with its Inactive Account Manager, which allows you to share your data with someone if it notices that you’ve stopped using your account.

When setting it up, you need to decide how long Google should wait — from three to 18 months — before considering your account inactive. Once that time is up, Google can notify up to 10 people.

You can write a message informing them you’ve stopped using the account, and, optionally, include a link to download your data. You can choose what types of data they can access — including emails, photos, calendar entries and YouTube videos.

There’s also an option to automatically delete your account after three months of inactivity, so your contacts will have to download any data before that deadline.

Facebook and Instagram

Some social media platforms can preserve accounts for people who have died so that friends and family can honor their memories.

When users of Facebook or Instagram die, parent company Meta says it can memorialize the account if it gets a “valid request” from a friend or family member. Requests can be submitted through an online form.

The social media company strongly recommends Facebook users add a legacy contact to look after their memorial accounts. Legacy contacts can do things like respond to new friend requests and update pinned posts, but they can’t read private messages or remove or alter previous posts. You can only choose one person, who also has to have a Facebook account.

You can also ask Facebook or Instagram to delete a deceased user’s account if you’re a close family member or an executor. You’ll need to send in documents like a death certificate.

TikTok

The video-sharing platform says that if a user has died, people can submit a request to memorialize the account through the settings menu. Go to the Report a Problem section, then Account and profile, then Manage account, where you can report a deceased user.

Once an account has been memorialized, it will be labeled “Remembering.” No one will be able to log into the account, which prevents anyone from editing the profile or using the account to post new content or send messages.

X

It’s not possible to nominate a legacy contact on Elon Musk’s social media site. But family members or an authorized person can submit a request to deactivate a deceased user’s account.

Passwords

Besides the major online services, you’ll probably have dozens if not hundreds of other digital accounts that your survivors might need to access. You could just write all your login credentials down in a notebook and put it somewhere safe. But making a physical copy presents its own vulnerabilities. What if you lose track of it? What if someone finds it?

Instead, consider a password manager that has an emergency access feature. Password managers are digital vaults that you can use to store all your credentials. Some, like Keeper,Bitwarden and NordPass, allow users to nominate one or more trusted contacts who can access their keys in case of an emergency such as a death.

But there are a few catches: Those contacts also need to use the same password manager and you might have to pay for the service.

___

Is there a tech challenge you need help figuring out? Write to us at onetechtip@ap.org with your questions.

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Google’s partnership with AI startup Anthropic faces a UK competition investigation

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LONDON (AP) — Britain’s competition watchdog said Thursday it’s opening a formal investigation into Google’s partnership with artificial intelligence startup Anthropic.

The Competition and Markets Authority said it has “sufficient information” to launch an initial probe after it sought input earlier this year on whether the deal would stifle competition.

The CMA has until Dec. 19 to decide whether to approve the deal or escalate its investigation.

“Google is committed to building the most open and innovative AI ecosystem in the world,” the company said. “Anthropic is free to use multiple cloud providers and does, and we don’t demand exclusive tech rights.”

San Francisco-based Anthropic was founded in 2021 by siblings Dario and Daniela Amodei, who previously worked at ChatGPT maker OpenAI. The company has focused on increasing the safety and reliability of AI models. Google reportedly agreed last year to make a multibillion-dollar investment in Anthropic, which has a popular chatbot named Claude.

Anthropic said it’s cooperating with the regulator and will provide “the complete picture about Google’s investment and our commercial collaboration.”

“We are an independent company and none of our strategic partnerships or investor relationships diminish the independence of our corporate governance or our freedom to partner with others,” it said in a statement.

The U.K. regulator has been scrutinizing a raft of AI deals as investment money floods into the industry to capitalize on the artificial intelligence boom. Last month it cleared Anthropic’s $4 billion deal with Amazon and it has also signed off on Microsoft’s deals with two other AI startups, Inflection and Mistral.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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