Game of Thrones, X-Men, the Avengers, Star Wars … big productions better known by their English names and yet have nothing to envy abroad: their visual effects were produced by our own digital creative companies. Montreal is the world's leading city in terms of per capita concentration of video game developers; it is third in video game production and the fourth largest global hub of expertise in animation and visual effects. The city is home to one of the richest ecosystems of know-how in the field, from the Algorithms Institute to the MUTEK festival, including Samsung, Facebook, Google, and Ubisoft, all of which have a presence on the street. Our local creators influence the arts and digital industries around the world, and develop new possibilities for artificial intelligence in virtual and augmented reality, immersive experiences, interactive installations, etc.

To talk about innovation, demystify the issues and see how to apply digital technology to their industries, many people are coming together during Montreal Digital Week from October 12 to 17. This is the third edition of MTL Connecte , a Digital Spring initiative of which Mehdi Benboubakeur is the general director.

A passionate entrepreneur at the service of people and technology

"Digital transformation fascinates me," says Mehdi with stars in his eyes. "It's one of the fastest revolutions we've ever seen and it's bringing about a huge paradigm shift for all of us. We need to make sure that technology is a tool, not an end in itself, and that it remains primarily at the service of humanity." The man at the head of Printemps numérique is gentle and calm, and he sparkles with intelligence. Being technologically on top of the game excites him, of course, but digital technology must remain humanistic. An engineer by training, top of his class in mechanical engineering, photographer, filmmaker, self-taught in visual effects VFX, but also a graduate in marketing and digital image design, he is delighted by the still unexplored potential at the crossroads of all these disciplines.

Founder of an advertising agency in Algeria with a clientele of giants like Coca-Cola, and of a multiplatform magazine that was completely avant-garde upon its arrival in Quebec, Mehdi has a flair for business and progress. Several of the immigrant entrepreneurs he had chosen to highlight in his media Réussir ici , including Ahmed Aina, now CEO of Dialexia communications , or Mouna Andraos, at the origin of the famous musical swings in the Quartier des spectacles, have become greats in their field.

For Mehdi, the equation is positive, without a doubt: "digital technologies are levers for economic transformation." Passionate about development, he joined the Conférence régionale des élus (CRÉ) de Montréal a few years ago to implement structuring societal projects. The Printemps numérique was one of them. Then, when the CRÉs were abolished, Mehdi became the guardian of the project, an independent organization since 2015. He did not hesitate to make it a powerful tool for development, bringing together industry and entrepreneurship, academia and the public to democratize and support digital transformation.

Connecting ecosystems with each other and with the world

There are three components to MTL Connecte. The general public component is product discoverability and outreach, so that Montreal is recognized as the world capital of digital intelligence. Two other components have been added, an axis dedicated to the next generation (which is the subject of a future article) and the one below, for professionals.

“Over time, we realized that the code is transversal,” explains Mehdi. Virtual reality, which was developed in the entertainment industry, has been applied in health with headsets to reduce pain in burn victims, for example, but also in architecture to visualize models, and in industry 4.0. Several sectors can use the same technology. This aspect of connection between ecosystems seemed essential to us. I call this concept cross-pollination. Connecting verticals is the work of MTL Connecte.”

Connecting people and projects allows ideas to be quickly prototyped according to industries, to transpose research and development (R&D) from one sector to another. “In 2019, Bombardier’s business aircraft R&D group was present. However, we had not presented an aeronautics theme. They told us afterwards that they had found ideas at MTL Connecte to solve some of their challenges: they had seen technologies that could be transposed for them.”

Both a showcase and an incubator, this gathering of digital creatives has everything to gain: "By collaborating, these niches will be able to increase their creativity tenfold and grow more quickly to access the global market." MTL connecte also allows ecosystems to connect with the world: Brussels is now holding a Digital Spring, sponsored by the one in Montreal. There are partnerships with ecosystems in Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Belgium, Germany, France, and South Korea. Several international delegations are present at the event.

A world of possibilities!