UBC Cloud Innovation Centre’s role in advancing UBC’s Strategic Directions 

With the launch of its refreshed strategic plan UBC’s Strategic Directions 2025-2030 earlier this fall, UBC has a renewed vision for research, teaching, innovation, and community impact. At the same time, the UBC Cloud Innovation Centre (UBC CIC or CIC) continues to grow and emerge as an influential driver of many of the new strategic priorities. Here’s how CIC is helping bring the UBC’s strategic plan to life: 

Excelling in the Development and Application of Emerging Technologies 
The core mission of the UBC CIC is to solve real-world challenges that benefit BC, Canada and the world. This is done through building shareable, viable cloud prototype solutions that address real-world problems in collaboration with community stakeholders, in support of the strategic direction to accelerate excellence in research, teaching, and scholarship that translates into societal impact. The CIC project, the Research Data Insights Generator, developed in collaboration with UBC Geography professor Siobhan Wittig McPhee, provides an AI-powered platform to upload and analyze large quantities of textual data, enabling a more adaptable approach to surfacing meaningful research insights. Similarly, the AI‑Powered Tool for Quantum Materials supports quantum innovation by providing a user-friendly tool that increases access to the latest research and resources in the field. 

CIC is also impacting the open education and AI-enabled learning space through its involvement in the BCcampus Open GenAI project where CIC partnered with BCcampus to develop an openly licensed AI study companion. Learn more about the collaboration, development process, and what’s next for the project in the BCcampus Open GenAI project update. 

Enhancing Experiential Education & Creating Flexibility for Learners 
One of the goals of UBC’s Strategic Directions is to provide students with hands-on opportunities to develop real-world, transferable skills. The UBC CIC hires students from all academic disciplines and provides students with work-integrated learning experiences through participation in multidisciplinary teams. Technical students receive training in AI, cloud, and full stack development, and non-technical roles also play a critical part in supporting project management and delivery.  Across all roles, students are exposed to the technology sector regardless of technical background and develop essential professional skills including collaboration, communication, and problem-solving, while gaining experience working with faculty, AWS, community partners, industry stakeholders, and public-sector organizations.  This creates a rare and flexible co-op environment that exposes students to world-class technology and teams, preparing them for a wide range of career outcomes. 

Additionally, projects like Ace It: The AI Study Assistant are an example of CIC integration with UBC curriculum via the Capstone Program. Other experimental tools such as the Virtual Patient Interaction Tool and Empathetic Communication Practice Tool use generative AI to simulate patient-interactions for students in healthcare disciplines, demonstrating how CIC supports experiential learning beyond traditional classroom labs and fostering the use of flexible, AI-enhanced training that complements coursework and equips UBC students for today’s workforce. 

Partnering for Purpose 
UBC’s strategy aims to expand strategic, reciprocal partnerships to address critical needs across communities locally and globally. The UBC CIC draws on this approach with their strong collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS) and its collaborations with external organizations in the public sector. Integrated teams bring together university expertise, cloud-infrastructure resources, and external community partners (non-profits, public-sector organizations, and health agencies) to solve problems.  

Building a Forward-Looking UBC Community 

The UBC CIC brings students, faculty, staff, and external partners together around shared challenges, fostering creativity, experiential learning, and institutional engagement. These community-oriented projects support the broader goal of nurturing a strong and vibrant UBC community that integrates innovation. 

As UBC embarks on the next five years guided by Strategic Directions 2025–2030, the UBC CIC stands out as a strategic enabler of many of the plan’s key areas that support innovation, experiential learning, partnership, and responsible use of emerging technologies. Through the work of CIC students, and the partnership with AWS, CIC’s projects translate UBC’s strategic vision into real-world impact: in student learning, research enablement, community wellbeing, and technological innovation. 

If you are in the public sector and have an innovation challenge that could benefit from cloud or AI technology, consider engaging with UBC CIC. The CIC welcomes expressions of interest and collaboration proposals at https://cic.ubc.ca/expression-of-interest.