Sudbury’s PACE Global seeks to help mining companies go digital

A Sudbury woman, one of the few people in Canada qualified to advise on digitizing mining companies, said only a small percentage of Canadian companies are using their digital technology properly.

Neha Singh, CEO of Global PACEwas a guest speaker in Toronto at the Northern Ontario Mining Showcase, which was part of the annual convention of the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada. Singh said Sudbury-based PACE Global is one of the few digital adoption companies working with the mining sector.

She told the audience that BDCCanadaa business development bank, did a recent study that showed that mid-sized and small businesses in Canada invested $120,000 in new technologies.

“And the shocking part of the study is that after investing $120,000, in 2020 only 5% of companies actually used the technology correctly. So there’s a real problem here,” Singh said.

She said many entrepreneurs, like herself, buy new technology because they think new technology is all they need to solve problems. She said that in many cases, companies find that the solution is not to acquire new technology, but to learn how to properly use existing technology.

“And so often what happens is that when you’re looking to buy new technology, the reason you’re buying new technology is because your existing technology isn’t doing what you need it to. Have you ever thought you just don’t how do you best use your existing technology?” Singh asked.

She said that is the main reason for the Canadian Digital Adoption Program. She said the federal government is pushing the small and medium business sector to take advantage of the digital adoption program.

From government point of view, the workplace is increasingly influenced by technological change, automation and data-driven situations. Businesses and industries must respond to maintain Canada’s competitiveness in the global marketplace. Canadian companies are encouraged to reach a higher level of “digital maturity”, which will translate into higher profits, more growth, more innovation and exports.

“And what we’re looking to do, what the Canadian government is looking to do, is they’re funding $15,000, just to focus on developing a plan. That’s what he’s funding it for, to focus on developing a plan. You cannot use this money to buy new technologies. You cannot use this money for training. None of this is to come up with a plan for how your business is going to leverage the right technology for the right things. And this is based on your goals. So what we do is we find the quick wins for you,” Singh explained.

“That’s what the program is for. So what the program really pays for is that you review your strategic plan, if you have one. If not, we’ll put one together for you.”

Singh said one of the keys to success in digital adoption is to make it a commitment to health and safety.

“It’s something you do every day. It’s something you build into your business for five minutes a day. to verify the data and things like that, it just becomes part of the job as people start to expect, ‘Oh, what are we doing different today?’ Because digital technology is here to stay.”

Len Gillis covers health and mining issues for Sudbury.com.