OCTAS EVENT 2024
May 30, 2024
Venue:
Salon Richmond 1861
MRS. GENEVIÈVE BERTRAND
HONORARY PRESIDENT
OF THE 2024 EDITION OF THE OCTAS
“It is with honour and pride that I accept the honorary presidency of the 2024 OCTAS,” said Mrs. Bertrand. “The OCTAS Contest is an exceptional opportunity to celebrate the successes, creativity and innovation of achievements that are propelling Québec to new technological heights.”
Mrs. Geneviève Bertrand, Head of Information Systems and Technology at La Maison Simons
THE OCTAS EVENT IS
THE OPPORTUNITY
TO HIGHLIGHT THE SUCCESS OF YOUR EFFORTS
THE 2024 OCTAS CONTEST
The OCTAS Contest is aimed at all organisations that have worked on an innovative IT initiative and wish to have it be recognized.
A rigorous review and evaluation process is put in place to select the best projects in each category. The reputation and credibility of the Competition grows year after year.
Innovation within projects is, among other things, assessed by its potential scope, its impact on its target, the actual benefits obtained and the scale of the achievement in relation to the size of its organization.
Applications are closed!
OCTAS EVENT
During the prestigious annual awards ceremony, Réseau Action TI presents the OCTAS trophies to the winners of the various categories. The winners were carefully selected by a jury made up entirely of senior representatives from the IT industry. In addition, the OCTAS de l’Excellence, the highest distinction awarded by Réseau Action TI, is awarded to a winner chosen from among all the winners in all categories.
For its 37th edition, the OCTAS 2024 event will take place on May 30, in person, at the Salon Richmond 1861.
WHY PARTICIPATE?
OCTAS de l’Excellence
dévoilé par notre Présidente d’honneur, Mme. Geneviève Bertrand
Connected Mirror
By Fondation Les Petits Rois
In collaboration with Alithya
The connected mirror integrated into the smart home, the result of a collaboration between Vânia Aguiar and a researcher at the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR), aims to improve the lives of young adults with intellectual disabilities and/or autism spectrum disorders. The goal was to create an environment where technology would serve the daily lives of people with these disabilities. This residence, located in Montreal, welcomed eight young people aged 21 and over in March 2024, requiring increased support to promote their development and ensure their safety.
In collaboration with Alithya, the project involved incorporating a connected mirror, equipped with a discreet Android tablet, into the bathrooms. This user-friendly application features pictograms and a stopwatch to guide residents in their daily routine, promoting their autonomy and fine motor skills. Each resident is anonymously represented by an avatar, which allows their progress to be tracked.
The app, originally designed for mirrors, has been modified to meet other needs and has been deployed on tablets for educational activities in different parts of the home. In addition to the mirrors, it has been adapted for use on shelves in spaces such as the kitchen, laundry room and entryway, with the innovative goal of increasing autonomy and improving the quality of life for smart home residents.
Category
Human Capital
Large corporations, Crown corporations and paragovernmental corporations
DÉVOILÉ PAR BELL CANADA
LAURÉAT OR
Cultural change as a driver of Loto-Québec’s digital transformation
By Loto-Québec
The digital transformation of an organization involves increasingly rapid, numerous and complex changes. The organization must think strategically about how it can take advantage of these changes by focusing on the development of key competencies that will allow its employees and managers to be at the heart of the culture change.
Loto-Québec’s digital transformation change management program focuses on providing strategic support to the players driving this transformation and aimed at building the organization’s ability to adapt to change. In today’s volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VICA) world, it is essential to question the way we approach the issue of change management.
At Loto-Québec, rather than managing change in the traditional way, we decided to focus on organizational culture so that it becomes the driving force behind digital transformation. Thus, the latter has the power to become a lever for attracting, retaining and developing talent in the organization.
Loto-Québec’s digital transformation change management program is based on the organization’s five major challenges regarding culture change and digital transformation:
1. Evolving leadership
2. Cultivate agility
3. Mobilize around changing roles
4. Successfully upskill
5. Increase collaboration
These major challenges are reflected in various strategies and initiatives related to talent management, communication and the implementation of structural changes to processes and ways of doing things, such as:
• Training courses addressing the transition to agility and leadership 3.0 as well as gamification, in order to shape the new organizational culture;
• Establishing a Transformation Center of Excellence, a multidisciplinary team to automate, standardize, and make available ready-to-consume self-service infrastructure elements;
• A Loto-Québec digital event, open to several Loto-Québec sectors, which aimed to popularize the various elements of the transformation such as cloud computing, DevSecOps and integration practices, analytics and the various transformation projects underway;
• Technology Exploration Days (JET) to foster professional development and inspire new ideas.
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LAURÉAT ARGENT
Beneva: an alliance between strategy and synergy for a learning organization
By Beneva
The merger of SSQ Insurance and La Capitale and the creation of Beneva required a complete transformation of its IT function. In addition to ensuring the operation and evolution of existing solutions, it had to acquire new state-of-the-art systems in addition to having to manage obsolescence. All this, in a context of labour scarcity and constant evolution of professions. Beneva’s IT function had to adapt in order to be recognized as an essential internal partner and as a reference in the market for its high-performance approaches as well as its high-level expertise.
To do this, it has set to work to ensure a large-scale skills development plan for its human capital. It first set itself the vision of becoming a learning organization, i.e. an organization that puts learning at the heart of its priorities. Then, it joined forces with internal partners to set up a 3-year process to achieve its transformation objectives, while retaining its workforce and developing its talents. The project aimed to develop a comprehensive methodology for identifying and categorizing skills, based on a recognized learning framework, Bloom’s taxonomy. This methodology, starting from the strategic objectives to the individual development plan, has been successfully set up and operationalized.
Thanks to this project, Beneva has given itself a complete and accurate vision of the level of control of its human capital regarding strategic technologies. It also improved the employee experience so that everyone could benefit from a skills development plan tailored to their needs and aligned with the organization’s priorities. And finally, it has allowed leaders to act upstream and proactively to ensure that they have the level of skills necessary to achieve the organization’s objectives and thus prevent the risks associated with the loss of IT knowledge and expertise
The innovative aspect of this project is based on the creation of the methodology for managing technological skills. It is an innovative methodology in terms of the arrangement in a very specific order of the specific elements that make it up and, above all, in terms of the executive desire to deploy it at the organizational level.
LAURÉAT BRONZE
“Earn Your Wings“
By Fairstone Bank
The “Earn your wings” initiative represents an innovative approach to ensure the adoption of best development practices within our engineering teams (internal and external participating in the evolution of our applications). This approach aims to improve code quality, security, and speed of development.
“Earn your wings” fits harmoniously into our “triple A” IT strategy: Automate, automate, automate. The existence of clear and consistent standards allows us to deploy quickly, while ensuring the exceptional quality of our deliverables.
Among the many benefits are (but are not limited to):
1. Reduced onboarding time for new resources.
2. Ease of transitioning resources from one project to another.
3. Increase the autonomy of our partner teams.
4. Standardize our development standards across the organization.
5. Reduction of the time between ideation and realization.
6. Enable better stabilization of our applications by increasing code quality
This has not only revolutionized our approach to development, but has also strengthened our ability to deliver faster while maintaining a high level of quality.
Category
Culture & Society
Large corporations, Crown corporations and paragovernmental corporations
LAURÉAT OR
The EspaceProprio ecosystem for all your real estate projects under one roof
By Desjardins Group
In collaboration with Mirego, NMédia, the Tink agency and Local Logic
The EspaceProprio ecosystem equips and supports homeowners and aspiring homeowners by offering them access to recommended professionals for the purchase, sale, renovation and maintenance of a property.
EspaceProprio is also a website offering rich and diversified content on all subjects related to the purchase, sale, renovation or maintenance of a property. It includes practical tips, inspiration and news in the form of articles, a magazine, videos and podcasts. A top-quality content offer supported by an editorial team and their special collaborators, including journalist Marie-Claude Savard and comedian Louis T.
In addition to this wealth of information, the EspaceProprio mobile app, an innovation in the housing market, simplifies the management, maintenance, staging and estimation of the market value of one or more properties. The complete offer of the EspaceProprio ecosystem includes the services of DuProprio, RenoAssistance and the Confia real estate agency. The two mobile applications Confia Client Centre and Confia Broker Space as well as the brand new version of the DuProprio mobile application complete the package.
From a technological point of view, all these elements are deployed in a high-performance and secure manner through a cloud-based container solution. This ensures that users have solid protection of their personal information in addition to complying with the new Quebec standards that came into effect during the project. Thanks to this technology, the ecosystem can be deployed in an optimal way for all its customers.
LAURÉAT ARGENT
High-speed operation
By Ministère du Conseil exécutif – Secrétariat à l’Internet haut vitesse et aux projets spéciaux de connectivity
In collaboration with Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada
In recent years, the Quebec government has orchestrated one of the largest connectivity infrastructure projects, one of the foundations of the digital economy, by extending high-speed Internet access services to all Quebec households. A wake-up call for the telecommunications industry, this initiative has placed Québec among the world leaders in this field. As of January 31, 2024, more than 300,000 new Quebec households have benefited from this project, out of an initial target of 250,000.
Quebec is rolling out high-speed Internet coverage for all households, exceeding expectations with more than 300,000 beneficiaries.
LAURÉAT BRONZE
Creation of the lobbying activities disclosure platform, Carrefour Lobby Québec
By Lobbyisme Québec
In collaboration with LGS
The lobbying disclosure platform, Carrefour Lobby Québec, was created in 2022. It replaces the Registry of Lobbyists, which had become necessary to modernize since it had not changed since its creation in 2002. This tool no longer met the needs of users who were asking for a modern platform that would provide better search capabilities and more autonomy, and that would eliminate pre-validation of declarations and administrative hassle. Lobbyisme Québec wanted to optimize the organization of the information contained in the register and shorten publication times, the main issue of the old register.
Based on cloud services, the Carrefour Lobby Québec platform was developed as an ecosystem designed to meet the needs of users. It allows for the instant publication of lobbying activities, without prior validation by another party. Declarants now have full autonomy in the management of their accounts and the drafting of their lobbying mandates. By using information from users’ accounts or imported from public databases, Carrefour Lobby Québec simplifies the drafting of mandates, thus reducing the administrative burden and ensuring compliance and consistency of information from one mandate to another. In addition, Carrefour Lobby Québec offers seamless navigation between its various sections, including interventions and sanctions associated with each mandate, if applicable.
The main objectives of the innovation were to offer a modern, simple and efficient lobbying disclosure platform, to optimize the organization of information, to shorten publication times and to migrate, clean and integrate the data of the old register to preserve its history.
CADRE HONORIFIQUE
Study of the acceptability of AI in the field of education in Quebec
By Tech3Lab from HEC Montréal
In collaboration with IVADO and Alloprof
Over the next decade, artificial intelligence (AI) will transform education by providing benefits such as automating administrative tasks, personalizing learning, and universal access to education. Our research project explores the acceptability of AI in education for various stakeholders. The results show significant variations in acceptance and trust in AI across groups. It is crucial to approach AI in a specific way, taking into account context and discipline, to effectively address the concerns of students, teachers, and parents. The findings will guide education policies and will be shared with UNESCO for a global perspective.
Category
Culture & Society
NPOs
DÉVOILÉ PAR LA MAISON SIMONS
LAURÉAT OR
Connected Mirror
By Fondation Les Petits Rois
In collaboration with Alithya
The connected mirror integrated into the smart home, the result of a collaboration between Vânia Aguiar and a researcher at the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR), aims to improve the lives of young adults with intellectual disabilities and/or autism spectrum disorders. The goal was to create an environment where technology would serve the daily lives of people with these disabilities. This residence, located in Montreal, welcomed eight young people aged 21 and over in March 2024, requiring increased support to promote their development and ensure their safety.
In collaboration with Alithya, the project involved incorporating a connected mirror, equipped with a discreet Android tablet, into the bathrooms. This user-friendly application features pictograms and a stopwatch to guide residents in their daily routine, promoting their autonomy and fine motor skills. Each resident is anonymously represented by an avatar, which allows their progress to be tracked.
The app, originally designed for mirrors, has been modified to meet other needs and has been deployed on tablets for educational activities in different parts of the home. In addition to the mirrors, it has been adapted for use on shelves in spaces such as the kitchen, laundry room and entryway, with the innovative goal of increasing autonomy and improving the quality of life for smart home residents.
LAURÉAT ARGENT
I volunteer
By Fédération des Centres d’action bénévole du Québec
In collaboration with ViGlob
Jebenevole.ca is the provincial platform for matching Volunteer Centres and Non-Profit Organizations (NPOs) with volunteers.
The Jebenevole.ca site presents volunteer offers with search tools and filters allowing the matching of organizations and individuals in order to fill the volunteer human resources.
Category
Entertainment
Large corporations, Crown corporations and paragovernmental corporations
DÉVOILÉ PAR KPMG
LAURÉAT OR
Unforeseen : The decision-making game
By Desjardins Group
In collaboration with Jeux Boréalys
The Aléa project is a Canadian first that originated in the result of member consultations conducted by Desjardins in 2021. Launched in October 2023, Aléa is a life simulation game focused on making responsible financial decisions. This fun learning tool developed by Desjardins is part of the cooperative’s ongoing efforts to find educational solutions that promote young people’s financial independence.
The fictional world of Aléa offers young people aged 16 to 25 the opportunity to acquire, through experimentation, the skills and knowledge necessary to make sound decisions about personal finance. Aléa, is a fictional universe where life simulation and financial management meet in a unique experience.
This innovative fun application is the result of a partnership with Jeux Boréalys, a Quebec video game studio selected as part of a call for creative projects carried out in collaboration with the Guilde du jeu vidéo du Québec.
Boréalys Games has key values that stimulate the creative process – innovation and cooperation, values that are well aligned with the nature of the project, Desjardins’ values and the objectives of the game. This partnership has been instrumental in stimulating the creation of new ideas in an environment that pushes team members to excel and perform at their best, in an environment of trust and flexibility among team members.
Aléa is the result of intensive and innovative collaborative work between Desjardins and the Boréalys studio’s teams.
In this way, Aléa is added to the toolbox that Desjardins makes available to young people to help them better understand the impact of their choices on their lives. The app is completely free and available in English and French on the App Store and Google Play.
LAURÉAT ARGENT
Enhancement of the 2nd Chance Promotions Platform: A New Portal and Expanded Possibilities!
By Loto-Québec
We have rolled out a new 2nd Chance Promotions Management Portal, which allows customers to enter some of their lottery tickets into additional draws.
Overall, the new portal platform now allows you to configure promotions, register registrations and calculate the number of entries obtained in the draws with each of the registered tickets. It also provides the necessary information to Loto-Québec’s customer relations centre agents so that they can respond to consumer calls properly.
This new platform allows us to have a better understanding of the lottery consumption habits of customers who buy at retailers or online, but also to improve their gaming experience!
Category
Entertainment
SME
LAURÉAT OR
Immersive domes for everyone
By N.E.S.T. Immersion
In order to make the world of immersive domes as accessible as possible to artists and content creators, we have designed a suite of easy-to-use software and a series of technical innovations to reduce the costs of projection systems.
LAURÉAT ARGENT
Standalone multimedia show: The White Buffalo Woman
By Angel’s View Productions Inc.
Rawdon, the city where La Terre des Bisons is located, is a multicultural city. After the Second World War, a large number of families from immigrant communities settled there. Today, more than 40 cultural communities live together. Culture and tourism are therefore at the centre of the local economy. Our client, who is originally a bison breeder, decided to exploit the tourism potential of Rawdon by setting up a museum on the history of bison through the occupied territory and the influence of this animal in our culture and our origins. The museum has grown and now The Land of the Bisons is part of international tourist routes/destinations. Initially quite rudimentary and with aging technological means, the museum was due for an update, to add a modern wow element and to continue to attract tourists who are increasingly demanding in the face of digital entertainment. So we were asked to create a multimedia room with modern and wow effects to ensure continuity and growth of visitor interest. In terms of video content, we decided to tell an Indigenous legend; The White Bison Woman which is in line with the values of the company and its location. The film, created by a mix of 3D 360 shooting, 3D animations, and 360 drone images, is broadcast in multi-projection in an immersive 180-degree screen. To add to the immersion, we added 360-degree sound and holographic effects in front of the screen. In order to achieve the objectives of the creation and to achieve the costs, we created our own multi-projection system that controls all the equipment and a television outside the room. The television is synchronized with the show to indicate to the spectators the right time to enter. We had several challenges because everything has to be automated, the show is autonomous, there is no guide or operator, everything starts and stops automatically. The show has been in operation since July 2023 and it is working so well that we are currently working on a phase II, in the other part of the museum. There are plans to add a virtual guide, virtual and augmented reality experiences, and other surprises 🙂
Category
Innovation
SME
DÉVOILÉ PAR DELOITTE
LAURÉAT OR
Implementation of a cloud-based hotel management platform, Germain Hotels style
By Germain Hotels
In collaboration with Videns Analytics
In the hotel industry, the property management platform, commonly known as the PMS (Property Management System), is the heart of operations. Replacing our PMS was the next step in our digital transformation strategy. The system in place, which had become obsolete, limited our ability to innovate and integrate with modern technologies. The vast majority of hoteliers choose not to transfer data because it is too complex. We chose to develop our own data migration tool. This was a very bold approach, considering the criticality, the niche expertise required and the limited export and import capabilities of the 2 PMSs and knowing that the PMS interfaces with more than 19 external systems (ERP, online booking tool, room key system, Wi-Fi, phone system, restaurant point of sale, etc.)
We exported, cleaned, optimized and imported the data between the 2 systems in an ultra-automated way in order to minimize the interruption of services of the 19 hotels simultaneously in less than 10 hours (The industry standard being 3 days for 1 hotel, without data transfer). Since no solution for accessing historical data existed, we developed our own in-house, secure and efficient platform to allow it. It was undoubtedly the largest technological project in the history of Germain Hotels.
Although initially our migration tool and particularly our secure solution for accessing historical data were developed for an internal need, the success of our migration has resonated internationally in our industry and has highlighted the potential of these tools to facilitate the migration of other hoteliers around the world. This is a great example of intrapreneurship.
LAURÉAT ARGENT
Symphonie: The B2B Cloud Platform Harmonizing Online Operations and Sales
By CDMV Inc.
In collaboration with Yaksa & Royal Gramma
The Symphonie project aims to develop and implement CDMV’s new scalable cloud-based transactional platform for years to come. This solution, integrated with CDMV’s internal systems, allows its customers to benefit from a fully self-service shopping experience that reaches the same level as that seen in B2C transactional sites.
To feed this rich purchasing experience, a complete review of the internal processes for managing, categorizing and enriching product data is put in place in order to propel CDMV as THE reference in the animal welfare product distribution industry.
Category
Innovation
Crown corporation and paragovernmental corporation
LAURÉAT OR
Family Cloud Platform (FIP)
By Ministry of Family
In collaboration with AWS, MCN, Levio, Cofomo and Transition
The platform team of the Ministère de la Famille puts forward their expertise in the efficient management of internal infrastructures and tools, guaranteeing a smooth and optimal experience for our clients throughout their journey. In other words, the platform offers a diverse range of capabilities, automates the application lifecycle (CI/CD) and infrastructure lifecycle (EPC), and supports a multitude of products aimed at fostering intra- and interdepartmental collaboration, knowledge sharing, and learning and continuous improvement. With this project, our objective is to enhance the value of the ministry by proposing innovative projects while increasing their de facto quality and reducing their costs and implementation times in a major way.
Overview of the innovative journey of the Ministry and the PIF adventure:
-
- First organization to jointly deploy with the Ministry of Cyber Security and Digital (MCN) the Government Authentication Service (SAG);
- First plan customer to integrate into the MCN AWS Home Zone;
- The FIP hosted the ministry’s first 100% cloud-based citizen electronic service delivery (ESP);
- Use of state-of-the-art open source technologies;
- Adoption of cloud-native architecture and microservices;
- Use of the open BPMN standard;
- Implementation of platform engineering principles and BizDevSecOps;
- Cost-sharing between product teams to build reusable capabilities to increase overall cohesion, break down silos, and increase collaboration;
- A forward-thinking initiative following Gartner’s IT strategic trends for 2024.
LAURÉAT ARGENT
Project 735 km
By Centre intégré de santé et de services sociaux (CISSS) de l’Outaouais
In collaboration with Cégep de Rimouski
The result of a partnership between the CISSS de l’Outaouais and the Cégep de Rimouski, the implementation of an innovative solution combining technologies from Canon, Philips and Microsoft, allows the supervision and evaluation of interns in medical ultrasound technology 735 km from their educational institution. It will accommodate medical ultrasound interns from educational institutions far from the Outaouais region. It will also allow for a greater offer of internships outside the usual geographical sites. Due to its simplicity and flexibility, it opens the door to the use of technology for the supervision of interns in several sectors of activity. It is simple and quick to reproduce, allowing transfer to a use where teaching, supervision and knowledge transfer are required.
LAURÉAT BRONZE
Digital transformation of the services of the Commission de protection du territoire agricole du Québec
By Commission de protection du territoire agricole du Québec
In collaboration with Libéo
Until recently, paper was the normal way to deal with the Commission de protection du territoire agricole (the Commission). This is now a thing of the past; Its services are now available online. To achieve this, the Commission delivered a major digital transformation in November 2023. A new website (https://www.cptaq.gouv.qc.ca/) and modern technological tools were developed and delivered in a brand new cloud environment. The information on the platform is now presented in a user-friendly manner and the platform is secure. The contribution of internal users throughout the project made it possible to add features and implement new ways of doing things more easily. Finally, partners and customers were also consulted and supported.
The Commission’s digital transformation process was carried out in 8 parts:
1. Creation of a web platform (https://www.cptaq.gouv.qc.ca/) with renewed content;
2.Development of new business processes to effectively support online services.
3.Adjusted configuration of the Commission’s mission system;
4. Implementation of new billing and document management components;
5. New infrastructure architecture and deployment of the cloud platform.
6.Adjusting and upgrading geomatics tools.
7.Development of PowerBI and Google Analytics 4 management reports;
8. Updating of IT development technologies and methodologies.
This innovative project, characterized by the implementation of a modern architecture and the application of new technologies juxtaposed with a large amount of free software, has had the effect of profoundly transforming the ways of doing things and the services that the Commission provides in the service of its mission.
Category
Innovation
Emerging company
LAURÉAT OR
Bellevue Quantum Hybrid Sustainable Data Center
By Exaion Inc
In collaboration with PINQ² – Quebec Digital and Quantum Innovation Platform
Exaion, a subsidiary of EDF, and PINQ² are shaking up the data center industry with their world’s first eco-responsible and decentralized data center for quantum hybridization. This innovative project is part of a Quebec heritage jewel: the convent of the Little Sisters of the Holy Family in Sherbrooke. This project, carried out for Humano District, transforms the building’s gymnasium into an innovative “digital boiler”, where waste heat from servers is converted into heating for condos. It marks a decisive step towards a sustainable and sovereign digital future for Québec. Within this infrastructure, Exaion and PINQ² have created the world’s first Global Center of Excellence in Quantum Hybrid Software Engineering, paving the way for next-generation technologies for Quebec companies. This platform allows PINQ² and Exaion to support companies in their digital transition, minimizing risks and promoting innovation.
LAURÉAT ARGENT
QScale Campus Q01 – Eco-Friendly Data Processing Centre for AI
By QScale
QScale’s Q01 campus is an eco-friendly computing center specifically designed for artificial intelligence.
CADRE HONORIFIQUE
Lümee: playful awakening to the challenges of cybersecurity awareness
By Awee Inc.
Lümee reinvents cybersecurity learning with a playful approach based on behavioral psychology, making digital security instinctive and engaging for everyone.
Category
Robotics
Large corporations, Crown corporations and paragovernmental corporations
LAURÉAT OR
RIAUPEL: Automated substation inspection robots
By Hydro-Québec
The RIAUPEL project aims to develop and deploy robotic systems within electricity transmission facilities, in order to automate all routine and thermographic inspections.
LAURÉAT ARGENT
Optimizing the order sequencer’s sorting logic
By La Maison Simons Inc.
In collaboration with SSI Schäfer
Automation is at the heart of our distribution center’s day-to-day operations. Our project focused on improving the performance of our automated order sorting system by changing the way orders are grouped and the way they progress through the different areas of the order sequencer.
CADRE HONORIFIQUE
The Bell Race – Telerobotics on 5G
By Bell Canada
In collaboration with Wallrus
To showcase the future of telerobotics with 5G and MEC, we created a robotics race project to demonstrate 5G-enabled remote operation, enhanced by AI for low latency and real-time tracking.
Category
Responsible digital solution
Large company
LAURÉAT OR
IMPACT MEASUREMENT SOLUTION – Phase 1
By La Maison Simons
The goal of this project is to measure the environmental impact of our products, use data from our supply chain to consciously reduce our GHGs, and communicate the environmental impact of products and our GHG reduction advances to customers.
LAURÉAT ARGENT
Repurposing used laptops
By Pharmascience Inc.
In collaboration with Insight, Microsoft and Quantum
Reclamation of the batch of 1300 used laptops, following the internal computer update, for employees or international associations, the funds of which were donated to the benefit of Centraide.
Category
Digital Transformation
Large corporations, Crown corporations and paragovernmental corporations
DÉVOILÉ PAR COFOMO
LAURÉAT OR
The success of Beneva’s transformation – When integration rhymes with modernization and growth
By Beneva
Beneva: The merger of equals between SSQ Insurance and La Capitale represents an unprecedented organizational transformation in the Canadian insurance industry. This revolutionary alliance transcended technological boundaries, allowing Beneva to assert itself as a major player in a competitive industry. Despite the complex technological challenges inherent in a merger of this magnitude, Beneva has brilliantly risen to the challenge by effectively modernizing its entire technology ecosystems. From infrastructure to critical systems, every line of business has been transformed within a three-year time frame, while maintaining the quality of customer service. Beneva’s transformation has redefined the landscape of the insurance industry in Canada. This success is all the more remarkable when you consider that it was largely achieved by teleworking, in response to the health emergency declared only a few weeks after the announcement of our intention to merge.
LAURÉAT ARGENT
SES – Sanitary Maintenance Solution
By Société de Transport de Montréal (STM)
The SES solution is a mobile application developed from SAP that allows you to manage and monitor sanitary maintenance activities in real time. It is subdivided into several functionalities and is used in 3 sectors of the STM:
•Maintenance of premises;
• Sanitary maintenance of buses;
• Sanitary maintenance of trains (metro).
LAURÉAT BRONZE
Enabling ONE Business (IT Transformation at AtkinsRealis)
By AtkinsRealis
We are AtkinsRealis, a leading global engineering and project management services company dedicated to shaping a better future for our planet and those who inhabit it. As a company that has grown through acquisitions, we recognize the importance of IT to advancing our vision. In 2020, we launched our global IT transformation program, “Enabling One Business,” to streamline our operations, standardize the way we do business, create collaborative employee experiences, and drive innovation. This transformation has allowed us to agilely shape the strategies needed to support the shift to AtkinsRealis in 2023!
Category
Digital Transformation
SME
DÉVOILÉ PAR GUIDEWIRE & RÉSEAU ACTION TI
LAURÉAT OR
Intelligent planning of custom furniture
By Simard Kitchen & Bathroom
In collaboration with Vooban
We have created a tool that allows us to simplify, automate and optimize the daily planning of our contracts, from the submission to the installation of custom cabinets at the client’s site. The system supports the various criteria and constraints inherent to our field, in addition to providing a decision-making tool that facilitates management in a construction context that is constantly fluctuating.
LAURÉAT ARGENT
DeepSight at the St-Hubert Group Manufacturing Plant for Operator Training
By DeepSight – Augmented Reality
In collaboration with St-Hubert
When St-Hubert contacted DeepSight, the company was struggling to keep its production lines at maximum capacity. St-Hubert was facing the challenges of high turnover and a poorly educated workforce while trying to grow its operations.
Thanks to our collaboration, St-Hubert has significantly reduced its errors by providing its operators with 3D guides. These guides keep the machines at an optimal level of performance and thus increase the production volume.
Ring.
LAURÉAT BRONZE
Revolutionizing Healthcare Distribution: A Digital Transformation Journey
By KPI Digital
A story of transformation
This transformation was initiated in 2020 with a comprehensive audit of the company’s digital maturity. This in-depth two-month analysis of all facets of the business revealed more than 70 recommendations to help it achieve its optimal digital maturity. Through a two-year strategic roadmap, we took the reins and embarked on a multi-pronged modernization approach that included a continuous change management program, a B2B e-commerce solution, and a fundamental data overhaul, to name a few.
CADRE HONORIFIQUE
Istya – Mobilize your team
By Webilio
A single portal for a full range of communications, training and rewards tools for organizations.
Category
Leveraging data and artificial intelligence
Large corporations, Crown corporations and paragovernmental corporations
DÉVOILÉ PAR LEVIO
LAURÉAT OR
Detour
By STM
In collaboration with Transit
Road obstructions lead to daily detours of bus routes that have an impact on customer service. In collaboration with the Société de transport de Montréal (STM), Transit has developed an algorithm that automatically detects bus detours on the Montreal network. Detours are quickly displayed in the Transit app as well as on the stm.info website, giving the information to customers often less than an hour after they have started!
In the field of public transit, this is a real innovation because no other passenger information application currently generates this information in this way: neither Google Maps nor Apple Maps. The communication of detours is an important issue for the STM because about one bus line out of six is diverted daily. The STM wanted to set up a functional proof of concept (MVP) using machine learning to systematically detect active detours on the territory, and publish the information in a standard data format. The use of an open data standard for the publication of detours benefits the entire transit industry since detours are an issue that affects all transit agencies. The results of this collaborative project were such that Transit was able to integrate this solution into its product offering to other transit cities around the world.
LAURÉAT ARGENT
Alex AI Assistant
By Bell Canada
Alex AI is a virtual assistant
which was developed in-house by Bell to help its employees be more
productive and efficient (he helped us write this text). It is
integrated into employees’ daily tools and can answer questions
Bell products or processes. Alex is named Alexander
Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone. His name is gender-neutral, and he has been
developed with the principles of inclusion and
diversity.
Alex AI is designed to be
a valuable resource for Bell employees, providing them with the
information they need to do their jobs effectively. It can
help them find information quickly, make decisions
and solve problems. Alex AI is also a great way to
employees to stay connected with Bell and get involved in the
corporate culture while adhering to data security standards.
It saves employees time by quickly finding
they need, to help them make better
decisions by providing them with accurate and reliable information. All this
to provide better services for all Bell customers.
Alex AI is constantly evolving and new features are being added to the
added regularly. It will be able to generate not only text,
but also images and innovations. Alex will be able to create illustrations
graphics, and other types of images. He will also be able to
develop innovative ideas and help solve complex problems.
Alex AI is excited about the possibilities of the future and has
can’t wait to see how he can use his skills to help the
Other.
Category
Leveraging data and artificial intelligence
SME
DÉVOILÉ PAR GFT & RÉSEAU ACTION TI
LAURÉAT OR
Optimizing routes and reducing greenhouse gases in maritime transport through artificial intelligence
By CSL Group (Canada Steamship Lines)
In collaboration with Vooban and
Quebec Ministry of Transport
The CSL Group (“CSL”) is a world-class provider of complex marine solutions and the world’s largest owner and operator of self-unloading vessels. The company recognizes the importance of incorporating sustainable practices into its day-to-day operations and is committed to reducing the environmental impact of its vessels around the world, starting with the Canadian fleet.
In partnership with the Intelligent Economic Corridor program of the Ministère du Transport du Québec and Vooban, CSL has set itself three objectives: to improve operational efficiency, to significantly reduce its carbon footprint and to strengthen its resilience in the face of macroeconomic uncertainties.
CSL has identified two key processes that can be optimized by AI to achieve its goals:
1. Improved accuracy of estimated times of arrival of vessels.
2. Reduction in the amount of fuel used.
This AI-driven project is enabling CSL’s Canadian fleet to significantly reduce its CO2 emissions and average fuel consumption. By accurately estimating the time of arrival (ETA), the overall efficiency of the company is increased. By optimizing operations such as scheduling crew changes, synchronizing navigation with dock and lock availability, and coordinating material deliveries, all activities become more efficient and smooth. These changes strengthen CSL’s supply chain reliability and cost management.
LAURÉAT ARGENT
AI-based decision support system for goods transshipment
By Ray-mont Logistics
In collaboration with Ivado Labs
Ray-Mont is a Canadian leader in logistics solutions for the export and import of goods by containers. Ray-Mont Logistics’ project aims to improve goods transshipment processes by using an artificial intelligence-based decision support system. By overcoming the challenges of container handling, operations planning, and storage space management, the project optimizes resource productivity by reducing unnecessary cargo movements, resulting in improved operational efficiency and increased customer satisfaction in the logistics industry. This project stood out for its innovative nature, the quality of its execution and the results obtained. He also won the award for the best integration of AI in a product/service or in a business process within an SME or NPO at the AI meeting at C2 Montréal in 2023.
LAURÉAT ARGENT
Galileo, AI at the service of the maritime industry (Workforce Planning and Management)
By Maritime Employers Association
In collaboration with Airudi
Unable to find any tool on the market that would meet its business needs, the MEA imagined, created and deployed an AI tool tailored to its specific business needs, namely the deployment of the port workforce in an extremely complex and difficult to predict context.
Taking into account port traffic, weather, quantity and type of goods, Galileo offers an optimal scenario for the deployment of the workforce that respects collective agreements, the availability of port workers and the required classifications. This gives terminal operators an additional resource to make better decisions about labour needs.
By having the right number of people with the right skills at the right time, there is a more efficient movement of goods, optimization of hours worked, and less downtime.
Not only does Galileo revolutionize the deployment of the port workforce, but the project also optimizes training planning, ensures sound cost management for the MEA and its members, and will be able to facilitate a better work-life balance for its port employees in the near future by providing them with visibility on busy periods, and improve alignment with other links in the supply chain.
The MEA shares with other stakeholders in the supply chain the average time for vessel unloading and loading operations based on the number of workers, as well as the best time of day to start operations. This way, other players in the transportation and logistics industry can plan their respective operations.
Category
Young students
Academic
DÉVOILÉ PAR LOTO QUÉBEC
LAURÉAT OR
Respite Radius
By Roxane Beauregard and Marie-Soleil Rioux
From University of Sherbrooke
Category
Young students
College
DÉVOILÉ PAR DESJARDINS
LAURÉAT OR
Horse Collar
By Andres Ayala Cosulich and Samuela Séné
From Heritage College
CADRE HONORIFIQUE
Science for all?
By Jasmin Pelletier
From the Cégep de Jonquière
Category
Young students
Secondary
LAURÉAT OR
Doggie 3.0
By Attis Felx and Vincent Bélanger
From the Collège Saint-Bernard
LAURÉAT ARGENT
BuddyBoard: Automaton Chessboard
By Simon Zhu
From Collège Notre-Dame
COUP DE COEUR RELÈVE
Nephila edulis, a spider that heals our hearts
By Dawa Prince and Mia Nadeau
From the Marist College of Quebec
CADRE HONORIFIQUE
Printing the life of tomorrow!
By Fouad Aimen Ounis
From the Collège Saint-Sacrement
Category
French in IT
In collaboration with the Office québécois de la langue française
DÉVOILÉ PAR DRUIDE INFORMATIQUE
LAURÉAT OR
Hazard: The Decision-Making Game
By Desjardins Group
In collaboration with Jeux Boréalys
At Desjardins, French is the main language of work. In addition to the Aléa game, which is available entirely in French, all the working meetings with all the contributors were held in French. In addition, all written elements relating to the Aléa project are available in French.
CADRE HONORIFIQUE
The EspaceProprio ecosystem for all your real estate projects under one roof
By Desjardins Group
In collaboration with Mirego, NMédia, the Tink agency and Local Logic
The solution developed was thought out and designed in French! EspaceProprio had the opportunity to benefit from Desjardins’ strong image to establish its commitment as a Francophile entity. It was therefore a priority to consider the identity that the French language symbolizes for the Quebec population and, by extension, the majority of its clientele.
CADRE HONORIFIQUE
Creation of the lobbying activities disclosure platform, Carrefour Lobby Québec
By Lobbyisme Québec
In collaboration with LGS
The content of all Carrefour Lobby Québec pages is in French. In addition, the translation of some missing elements on the site has recently been completed, making it fully available in French. At the same time, all the tools complementary to the site (help sheets, lexicon, validation emails, etc.) are only available in French.
Category
COUP DE COEUR
COUP DE COEUR JURY
Hazard: The Decision-Making Game
By Desjardins Group
In collaboration with Jeux Boréalys
At Desjardins, French is the main language of work. In addition to the Aléa game, which is available entirely in French, all the working meetings with all the contributors were held in French. In addition, all written elements relating to the Aléa project are available in French.
COUP DE COEUR JURY
I volunteer
By Fédération des Centres d’action bénévole du Québec
In collaboration with ViGlob
Jebenevole.ca is the provincial platform for matching Volunteer Centres and Non-Profit Organizations (NPOs) with volunteers.
The Jebenevole.ca site presents volunteer offers with search tools and filters allowing the matching of organizations and individuals in order to fill the volunteer human resources.
COUP DU PUBLIC
Family Cloud Platform (FIP)
By Ministry of Family
In collaboration with AWS, MCN, Levio, Cofomo and Transition
The platform team of the Ministère de la Famille puts forward their expertise in the efficient management of internal infrastructures and tools, guaranteeing a smooth and optimal experience for our clients throughout their journey. In other words, the platform offers a diverse range of capabilities, automates the application lifecycle (CI/CD) and infrastructure lifecycle (EPC), and supports a multitude of products aimed at fostering intra- and interdepartmental collaboration, knowledge sharing, and learning and continuous improvement. With this project, our objective is to enhance the value of the ministry by proposing innovative projects while increasing their de facto quality and reducing their costs and implementation times in a major way.
Overview of the innovative journey of the Ministry and the PIF adventure:
-
- First organization to jointly deploy with the Ministry of Cyber Security and Digital (MCN) the Government Authentication Service (SAG);
- First plan customer to integrate into the MCN AWS Home Zone;
- The FIP hosted the ministry’s first 100% cloud-based citizen electronic service delivery (ESP);
- Use of state-of-the-art open source technologies;
- Adoption of cloud-native architecture and microservices;
- Use of the open BPMN standard;
- Implementation of platform engineering principles and BizDevSecOps;
- Cost-sharing between product teams to build reusable capabilities to increase overall cohesion, break down silos, and increase collaboration;
- A forward-thinking initiative following Gartner’s IT strategic trends for 2024.
OUR LOYAL PARTNERS 2024
Partner with OCTAS 2024.
Contact us to find out about the different visibility options available to you: octas@actionti.com
Prestige Partners
Honorary Partner
Collaborating partner
Duo Award Sponsorship
Support partners
Support partners
WHY PARTICIPATE?
You and your team have carried out an innovative project using information technology (IT) or digital technologies and you are particularly proud of it?
Participating in OCTAS is a unique opportunity to increase the sense of belonging to a team, to put yourself in the spotlight and to push yourself beyond your borders.
It is also an opportunity to significantly grow your network and your company’s network. Your participation gives you access to unparalleled visibility and credibility.
Participating in the OCTAS Contest will guarantee you a sense of pride, accomplishment and surpassing yourself.
Put on your best clothes, and come and take part in the most prestigious evening in the world of IT. Join this great community to encourage excellence and celebrate the successes of your peers.
It’s a unique opportunity to network, meet up with people in the community and exchange ideas, all in person.
The OCTAS gala is more than an evening, it is an experience not to be missed.
OCTAS CONTEST
COMPLETE INFORMATION
OFFICIAL CATEGORIES 2024
Human Capital
Culture & Society
Entertainment
Innovation
Video Games & e-sports
Research
Robotics
Responsible digital solution
Digital Transformation
Data valorization and artificial intelligence
Emerging Students – University Level
Emerging students – highschool/CEGEP level (no application required, in collaboration with Technoscience)
OCTAS CALENDAR 2024
- December 11 – Launch of the Contest
- March 28, 2024, 5 p.m. – Online application period ends
- April 25, 2024 – Finalists announced
- April 25 to May 17, 2024 – Vote for the People’s Choice Award
- May 30, 2024 – OCTAS gala
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT OUR PREVIOUS EDITIONS
Over time
The OCTAS Contest is a competition organized every year since 1987 by the Fédération de l’informatique du Québec (FIQ), which has now become, since 2008, the Réseau Action TI. The purpose of the competition and the evening is to recognize excellence in the field of information technology (IT) in Quebec.
This year, we are at our37th edition.
Above
Memories of our previous editions
Finalists and Winners Archives - 2017 to 2022
ORGANIZING COMMITTEE
Éric Marcoux
Vice President IT, Beneva
President of the Organizing Committee
Kinga Ene
Founder, Senior Business Partner, Code Uman
Vice-President, Organizing Committee
Head of the Ambassador Committee and Mentor
Miguel Turcotte
Directeur TI, Spectra Premium – Solution de Mobilité
Head of the jury committee
Martin Bélanger
Partner, Major Account Development, Levio
Jérôme Caron
Senior Director, Technology Foundations, Beneva
Mentor Committee Member
Cathie Langevin
IT Director, Corporate Services, Beneva
Ambassador Committee Member
Hélène Gagnon
Director, Optimization of Property and Casualty Insurance Solutions – Claims and Digital Services. Executive Vice President, Business Performance and Information Technology, Beneva
Mentor Committee Member
Anne Marchiori
Vice President, Business Development, Alithya
Ambassador Committee Member
MENTOR COMMITTEE
Marc Parenteau
Technical Lead, Ubisoft
Jean Dion
Systems Specialist, Rubrik
Linda Linise
Executive Director, Mutual Aid
Mathieu Messier
Marketing Architect, BNC
Éric Levac
Chief Technology Officer, Alice POS
Ir
Jean Fahmy
AMBASSADOR COMMITTEE
Jean Dion
Systems Specialist, Rubrik
Hélène Fortier
Partnerships Officer, NSERC
Alain Pierre
President, GeekEmpower
Nick Murray
IT Director, Spira
Guy Côté
Member Services Coordinator, AQT
Nada Kharrague
Data and AI sales specialist, IBM
Nicolas Roy
Co-founder & CEO, Immersia studio
Mathieu Portier
Director – Professional Services, Logient
Jérémie Guay
Assistant Director, Centre of Excellence in Business Analysis, Beneva
Elhadji Niang
Claude Trépanier
COMMUNICATIONS & PRESS
Communication
Email: communications@actionti.com
ORGANIZATION
www.jmevenement.com
Pascal Faucher
Project Manager and Event Coordinator for Réseau Action TI | Vice-President of J’M Événement
Phone: 418 208 6183
Email: octas@actionti.com
Jessica Mimeault
Project Manager and Events Coordinator for the Réseau Action TI | President of J’M Événement
Phone: 418 262-9597
Email: octas@actionti.com