The Bank of Canada announced Wednesday that it will partner with the Creative Destruction Lab (CDL) to deepen its knowledge of leading technologies.

The central bank’s involvement with CDL is motivated by its strategic plan for 2019–2021, “which focuses on better understanding the digital economy and the technological transformation of financial services and on strengthening innovation in its own operations as a central bank,” the bank says in a news release.

CDL is a seed-stage program for entrepreneurs, scientists and investors that was launched in 2012 in Toronto at the Rotman School of Management. The program has since expanded to Vancouver, Calgary, Montréal, Halifax and New York City.

The partnership agreement with CDL will enable the bank to better understand the implications of emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence, machine learning and crypto-assets for the financial sector, the bank says.

“The bank is delighted to collaborate with the world-class experts at CDL as part of our digital economy agenda,” says Carolyn Wilkins, senior deputy governor, in a statement. “This partnership aligns perfectly with our core goals of leveraging technology to enhance the quality and breadth of our research and analysis and increasing the efficiency of the bank’s operations.”

“While a collaboration between a central bank and a high-tech university start-up program may seem counterintuitive, we are convinced that the skills and assets each of us bring will result in a highly productive partnership that will enhance Canadian competitiveness,” adds Sonia Sennik, executive director of the CDL, in a statement.