ROEB-Digital Transformation

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Today’s regulatory landscape is complex and continually evolving, through rapid scientific innovation, technological advances and global supply chains. ROEB is committed to modernizing and transforming its compliance and enforcement approach to become more agile, assertive, consistent, innovative, proactive and risk-based. Digital Transformation is large part of this commitment and directs and coordinates transformation efforts across ROEB’s compliance and enforcement programs.

Technology Being Tested

For a quick glance at the experiments ROEB is conducting, please visit the ROEB Incubator.

Natural Language Processing (Artificial Intelligence):

There are several projects testing Natural Language Processing (NLP) to support uses cases within ROEB. Project Cipher is a prime example of this technology to support the inspection programs. Project Cipher began as a Solutions Fund project to test the technology applied to inspection observations to create an automated process to assign risk to each observation and other business process requirements critical within many inspection programs (for example: assignment of "Standard Lines"). Project Cyclops also uses NLP to interpret and classify extracted text from Natural Health Product labels.

Robotics & Remote Sensing (Drones and Satellites)

As part of a Solutions Fund project called Hummingbird, ROEB has been testing data collected using drones and satellites to assess value when applied to outdoor cannabis inspections. To find out more, please visit the Hummingbird repository.

Computer Vision (Artificial Intelligence):

Project Cyclops, a ROEB Solutions Fund project, leverages computer vision to detect and interpret text in images via optical character recognition. This technology supports checking instances of non-compliance in natural health project labels examined by inspectors. Other projects like Drab are also exploring computer vision to support the tobacco label inspection process.

Virtual Reality:

There are many plans to leverage Virtual Reality (VR) technology to support both inspection training and outreach / education activities ROEB is responsible for. Preliminary research is being conducted to further examine this technology. An example, Project Apollo created a VR tool to create a learning environment to public consumption.

Social Media Monitoring (Artificial Intelligence):

Project Kelpie is exploring Social Media data to directly inform decisions by understanding youth and the vaping market

Geographic Information Systems:

There is a growing need to incorporate geospatial information as part of the analyses conducted by many ROEB inspection programs. ROEB is examining GIS technology to support various data augmentation needs. Project Sia is examining GIS platforms to integrate data to inform Compliance & Enforcement decisions using map-based visualization tools. Example technology: ArcGIS StoryMaps

Web Scraping:

There are many web scraping initiatives currently exploring various open or closed source technologies. Project Sparrow is a project exploring a digital library of online data enabled by web scraping technologies of emerging health products, techniques, technology, processes, trends etc, for the purpose of informing Compliance &Enforcement decisions​

Chatbots:

Project Iris is examining if a continuously learning, automated central system (Chatbot) for incoming inquiries for all ROEB is appropriate and feasible.