By Kelly Parker
TECH 
TO THE 
RESCUE
H o w  a n  E d m o n t o n - b a s e d 
t e ch  f i r m  i s  e x p a n d i n g 
i t s  b u s i n e s s  s t r a t e g y 
t o  h e l p  I n d i g e n o u s 
c o m m u n i t i e s  i n  Ta i w a n
“L
iberation Day,” as pegged 
by U.S. President Donald 
Trump, greeted the 
world of international 
trade in April of 2025. It 
marked the latest move in a firehose of 
announcements from Washington on 
new or increased tariffs on goods from 
a long list of countries.
What followed were pivot days for many 
Indigenous businesses, with some 
halting exports to the U.S. and instead 
exploring other markets further afield. It 
also meant looking into novel new collab-
orations. RUNWITHIT Synthetics (RWI), an 
Edmonton-based Indigenous-owned AI 
simulation company, embarked on such 
a new partnership. It recently signed 
a landmark memorandum of under-
standing with the Taiwan Indigenous 
Sustainable Development Association 
(TISDA) to launch an initiative that would 
use its technology to help Indigenous 
communities in Taiwan. 
Called the IMPACT initiative, the 
project will use RWI’s proprietary 
AI-driven “digital twins” — digital 
replicas of physical communities — 
to improve disaster resilience and 
preparedness in Indigenous regions 
of Taiwan. (For more information on the 
company's cutting-edge technology, 
see article on pg. 14.) Facilitated by 
the Indigenous Peoples Economic 
and Trade Cooperation Arrangement 
(IPETCA), which the Government of 
Canada has endorsed, it represents 
a groundbreaking partnership.
Many Indigenous communities in 
Taiwan are in hazard-prone regions 
and therefore disproportionately 
impacted by severe climate crises. 
The country recorded 384 extreme 
weather events between 2006 and 
2020, and almost half (43.2%) affected 
Indigenous communities. RWI’s 6D 
simulation technology enables 
communities to create multi-scenario 
simulations so they can properly antic-
ipate the impact of future extreme 
weather events and prepare for them.  
Indigenous Business Report recently 
caught up with RWI co-founder and CEO 
Myrna Bittner to learn more about her 
company’s approach to global partner-
ships like the TISDA collaboration, and 
export in general.
BEFORE THE TISDA PARTNERSHIP, 
HOW WOULD YOU ASSESS RWI’S 
EXPORT READINESS?
MYRNA BITTNER: We’ve been exporting 
around the world, from Southeast Asia 
to Europe and the U.S., probably since 
year two, and our company is 11 years 
old. Most of our export readiness has 
been based on international work and 
contracts that we’ve been working on 
over the past 10 years.
Myrna Bittner, CEO 
RUNWITHIT Synthetics
40 A CCIB PUBLICATION  Winter 2026
TRADE & EXPORT

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