Accelerating Innovations Into Care (AICE)

Overview of the Accelerating Innovations Into Care (AICE) program:

The Accelerating Innovations into Care (AICE) program, administered by Alberta Innovates, is a funding initiative aimed at bridging the gap between health innovation and clinical adoption within Alberta’s healthcare system. The AICE program focuses on supporting innovators — including Alberta-based small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), post-secondary institutions, and health system partners — in testing, validating, and implementing health technologies or innovations in partnership with Alberta Health Services (AHS) and other care providers. The program targets late-stage innovations that are ready to be piloted or scaled within a healthcare setting, with the ultimate goal of improving patient outcomes, streamlining care delivery, and enhancing system performance. The AICE program is split into two main streams: AICE - Validate and AICE - Market Access. AICE - Validate supports the clinical testing and evaluation of innovations with the intent to generate evidence and demonstrate value in real-world care settings. AICE - Market Access helps scale innovations that are already validated, aiding their adoption into Alberta’s health system and broader market access efforts. Eligible innovations can include medical devices, digital health solutions, diagnostics, therapeutics, and service delivery models. All applicants must demonstrate meaningful collaboration with clinical and/or health system partners in Alberta and provide a clear plan for implementation and evaluation. Funding decisions are based on the potential health system impact, commercialization readiness, and alignment with provincial health priorities. This program is part of Alberta Innovates’ broader commitment to building a sustainable health innovation ecosystem that supports economic diversification and better health outcomes for Albertans.

Benefits of the Accelerating Innovations Into Care (AICE) program:

• Supports real-world validation and adoption of health innovations
• Enables collaborations with Alberta Health Services and other care providers
• Provides funding for pilot testing, clinical evaluation, and system integration
• Strengthens evidence for commercialization and procurement readiness
• Facilitates innovation pathways into the Alberta healthcare system
• Builds relationships between SMEs, post-secondary institutions, and clinical networks
• Accelerates time-to-market for Alberta-grown innovations
• Encourages strategic partnerships that support long-term innovation scale-up

Eligibility criteria of the Accelerating Innovations Into Care (AICE) program:

• Applicants must meet the following eligibility criteria:
• Be Alberta-based innovators, such as SMEs, post-secondary institutions, or research/clinical teams
• Be developing late-stage health innovations (Technology Readiness Level 6 or higher)
• Have a clinically relevant product or service ready for pilot or adoption in healthcare environments
• Demonstrate existing or planned collaboration with Alberta Health Services or care providers
• Provide a detailed project plan, including methodology, evaluation strategy, and impact metrics
• Include a commercialization or implementation plan outlining next steps post-funding
• Show financial readiness, including cost-sharing or in-kind contributions where possible
• Must be able to execute the project in Alberta and comply with ethical and regulatory approvals as required