NORAD may be known for tracking Santa every Christmas Eve, but the binational defence command is on a much bigger mission.
Lieut.-Gen. Blaise F. Frawley, deputy commander of NORAD, visited Waterloo Region to connect with local tech leaders about how their AI technologies could modernize operations and strengthen North America’s shared defence systems. The full-day visit was organized by Communitech and included a roundtable with 17 startups building advanced technologies, from ethical AI and robotics to flight systems and cyber-resilience tools.
“In a mere three hours, I’m very pleasantly surprised, even though I shouldn’t be surprised,” Frawley said. “We have some incredible minds here, especially in this area. I truly believe we’re at the forefront of AI thinking and AI academics.”
NORAD, the North American Aerospace Defense Command, is a partnership between Canada and the United States that monitors and responds to threats approaching by air or sea. It’s exploring how to modernize its systems using AI and sees Canadian innovators as part of that future.
The delegation also toured the Innovation Arena at the University of Waterloo, where startups and researchers are accelerating commercial solutions in advanced health and tech systems.
Startups at the roundtable included Ample Insight, Cohere, ConnectTech, CTRL, ESGTree, evolutionQ, Fairly AI, Geotab, KA Imaging, MappedIn, NAVBLUE, Palitronica, PolyML, Primal, Real Life Robotics, Shinydocs and Teledyne FLIR.
Waterloo was Frawley’s only Canadian stop as part of a larger effort to explore AI’s role in the future of binational security. Frawley said that while NORAD and NORTHCOM recently visited leading AI firms in Silicon Valley, it was important to include Canada in that conversation, and specifically, Waterloo.
“I told the team, given that NORAD is a binational command, I don’t want to only visit the U.S. side of the hub of AI,” he said. “I want to go to Communitech specifically, and more holistically, the Waterloo area to see what’s going on on the Canadian side.”
“It was an honour to welcome General Frawley back to Communitech,” said Kevin Tuer, CTO at Communitech. “He visited several years ago as part of a Royal Canadian Air Force delegation, and that visit ultimately led to the set-up of an innovation lab here at the Hub for many years. For him to remember that visit and choose to return as part of NORAD and NORTHCOM’s exploration of AI speaks volumes about the calibre of innovation happening in this region.”
A hub for dual-use innovation
Waterloo Region is emerging as a leading hub for dual-use AI technologies, solutions that have both civilian and defence applications. Startups in the area are pushing the envelope on technologies like autonomous systems, explainable AI and secure communications.
At the institutional level, the Waterloo Institute for Sustainable Aeronautics (WISA) is driving new research in aviation, while the University of Waterloo runs Canada’s largest aviation program. Meanwhile, NAVBLUE, an Airbus-owned company based in Waterloo, continues to scale its aviation software solutions with global partners.
AeroWR, a regional collaboration of aviation companies, researchers and community leaders, is helping tie these efforts together.
Adapting defence for AI
AI is already changing sectors from finance to health care, but its adoption in military and defence settings has been slower.
“We designed our system to buy ships or tanks or airplanes and keep them for 40 years,” Frawley said. “How’s 40 years going to work in the AI world?”
Frawley told the roundtable that current procurement models and policies in both Canada and the U.S. are not built for the speed and flexibility that AI demands. Without updates to those systems and a change in organizational culture, he said, progress will be limited.
“It’s as much about culture as it is physically having the tools in front of us,” he added. “The first place we’re going to start is culture.”
Several startup leaders echoed those concerns, pointing to challenges in testing and scaling new technologies. They said more agile procurement and pilot opportunities would make it easier to bring local innovation to national and international defence applications.
“We know we can’t do this alone. We know we need the industry’s help,” said Frawley. “Just today I’ve seen at least four or five different companies that I think would fit perfectly within what we do in some layer. It’s a matter of figuring out how we piece together a way forward.”
NORAD and USNORTHCOM will host an Industry Day on June 13 in Colorado Springs to bring together industry, military and government leaders to discuss future mission needs and identify tech solutions from across North America.
