September 2, 2025 – Saskatchewan Polytechnic is proud to announce the renewal of its Digital Integration Centre of Excellence (DICE) as a Technology Access Centre (TAC), backed by $1.75 million in funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).
DICE will receive $1.75 million from NSERC, through the College and Community Innovation program, to support applied research and innovation over the next five years. This renewal builds on DICE’s success as Saskatchewan’s first TAC, originally designated in May 2020.
“Congratulations to the DICE team for their operational excellence which has resulted in the renewal of their TAC status and federal funding,” says Dr. Larry Rosia, president and CEO of Sask Polytech. “DICE has become a national leader in digital innovation, applied artificial intelligence and machine learning. This renewed support allows us to continue helping Saskatchewan and Canadian businesses innovate, grow and compete globally.”
Since its launch, DICE has grown from 17 to 30 employees, including student researchers, and generated $11.8 million in revenue—almost doubling the projected earnings in the original five-year plan. Annually, DICE works with about 25 clients on over 30 projects delivering digital solutions across Canada’s key sectors. Thanks to successful collaborations over the past five years, many DICE partners have chosen to extend and expand their applied research projects year-over-year.
DICE supports a wide range of partners, from large mining and manufacturing firms to tech start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises. Industry partners retain all intellectual property from applied research, encouraging long-term collaboration and innovation.
“As DICE enters its 11th year of operations and sixth year as a TAC, we’re excited to help new partners explore the potential of artificial intelligence and machine learning,” says Dr. Terry Peckham, DICE director. “We’ve only scratched the surface of what digital technologies can do. It’s a privilege to work alongside our partners to turn knowledge into practical solutions that benefit Canadians.”
In the mining and energy sectors, DICE has supported projects such as robotic mining automation with Cameco, hydrogen fuel cell defect detection with Mercedes-Benz and underground positioning systems with Nutrien and BHP. In agriculture, the centre has worked with partners such as Ground Truth and Nut Mountain Farms to assess crop quality and grade.
DICE has also contributed to training and healthcare innovation, including physiotherapy treatment with Craven Sports, PTSD therapy using virtual reality with Savyn and cardiology data analysis with Cardea. In the information technology space, DICE has created an adaptive web extraction tool for obtaining grocery information and prices with BetterCart and preserved encryption for drone communication with mPowered.
DICE provides innovative solutions for solving data and digital challenges for business, industry and non-profits. By partnering with DICE, organizations have access to outstanding computational facilities, faculty expertise, and talented student researchers, along with research and development funding and a vast network of connections. The DICE team of researchers and technologists are all experienced in providing digital solutions focused on data across a spectrum of industries.
Learn more at saskpolytech.ca/dice.
