Sept. 30, 2026, Guelph, Ont. — The Canadian Food Innovation Network (CFIN) and the International Centre for Industrial Transformation (INCIT) today announced a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that will bring INCIT’s suite of Industry 4.0 transformation tools, anchored by its Smart Industry Readiness Index (SIRI), to Canada’s food and beverage manufacturing sector. Under the agreement, CFIN and INCIT will: Establish a joint task force to foster a growing community of Canadian food and beverage professionals engaged in digital transformation. Promote and catalyze adoption of INCIT’s assessments among Canadian food and beverage manufacturers. Build a Canadian network of Certified INCIT Assessors to serve domestic manufacturers. Collaborate on advisory projects that apply INCIT tools as part of the framework to support Canadian manufacturers’ modernization efforts. The agreement represents a national push to equip Canadian food and beverage manufacturers, particularly small- and mid-sized enterprises, with the tools and technology needed to modernize their operations and stay competitive. This partnership gives Canadian SMEs a credible, independent way to understand where they stand on that journey towards connected production — and where to invest next. Smart Industry Readiness Index (SIRI) is a digital-maturity assessment toolkit for manufacturers, which evaluates a facility across process, technology and organization, producing a benchmarked readiness score and a prioritized roadmap for technology investment. Because assessments are delivered by independent Certified SIRI Assessors rather than a vendor or consultancy, SIRI gives Canadian manufacturers an objective, third-party view of their digital readiness — grounding modernization decisions in evidence rather than guesswork. “Canadian food and beverage manufacturers know they need to modernize — what they often lack is an objective, credible direction on where to start,” said Dana McCauley, chief executive officer of CFIN, in a media release. “Bringing INCIT’s tools to Canadian businesses is part of CFIN’s larger goal of accelerating plant-level adoption of Canadian automation, robotics, and digital technologies. This partnership gives our manufacturers a globally trusted benchmark to guide investments with confidence.”