Artificial intelligence (AI) is often criticised for ripping off artists, but the technology is now being used to combat fake copies of works by the Canadian artist Norval Morrisseau (1932-2007) that have flooded the market over the past two decades.
More than 6,000 pieces were produced and fraudulently sold as authentic works by the Ojibwe artist to collectors worldwide, with financial losses estimated to exceed C$100m ($72.5m). The trial of Jeffrey Cowan, the last of the suspected fraudsters in the tangled web of Morrisseau forgery rings, began this week. Two other men who pleaded guilty to participating in what the Ontario Provincial Police described as “the biggest art fraud in world history”, were each given a conditional sentence of two years less a day in August and September.
In a unique case of fighting fakes with fakes, the Montreal-based start-up Acrylic Robotics announced in July that, in partnership with the Norval Morrisseau Estate, its robots will reproduce five Morrisseau paintings and make the copies available for purchase.
Norval AI
“We have created our own artificial intelligence called Norval AI to help determine the probability of an authentic Norval Morrisseau painting,” Cory Dingle, the Morrisseau estate’s executive director, tells The Art Newspaper. “It has grown to do many other functions that will help with museums seeking provenance as well as law enforcement—such as catching the person who painted the fraudulent work.”
The idea of developing an AI authenticator began in 2023, when Dingle met Stephan Heblich, an economics professor at the University of Toronto, and Clément Gorin, an associate professor at the Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne.
“Clément and I were just two art-loving economics professors who are using the latest deep learning and visual recognition techniques to analyse paintings,” Heblich says. “We thought we could help restore Norval’s legacy, so we reached out to Cory and created Norval AI.”
A year later, Dingle met Chloë Ryan, the founder and chief executive of Acrylic Robotics. The artist-turned-engineer had developed technology that allows robots to paint works in the style of individual artists.
Better fakes
“We needed better replicas to test our artificial intelligence programme—the existing fake paintings were so terrible,” Dingle says. “So we collaborated with Acrylic Robotics and helped train their robot to paint more realistic fake paintings.” He adds: “They want to produce very accurate reproductions and our Norval AI tells their robot where it is doing a bad job. They use our data to make the robot do a better job, which makes those better replicas train our Norval AI even better.”
Last year, the Norval Morrisseau Family Foundation helped Acrylic Robotics produce a very accurate replica of one of Morrisseau’s original paintings. This in turn was run through the Norval AI programme and the results were shared with Acrylic Robotics to help improve its replicas.
The resulting works produced by Acrylic Robotics include limited editions of five paintings, including Morrisseau’s In Honour of Native Motherhood (1990), which was inspired by the murdered and missing Indigenous women in Canada, and Punk Rockers (around 1991), in which Morrisseau fused traditional Anishinaabe iconography with contemporary idioms.
Marked as replicas
Prices for the Acrylic Robotics works range from C$3,240 to C$45,000. To avoid further fraud, several techniques have been applied to ensure the works are easily identifiable as replicas, including a mark on the back of the canvas.
According to an Acrylic Robotics spokesperson, the company hopes to investigate whether, with the support of Norval AI, its robots may be able to complete some of Morrisseau’s many unfinished or damaged works.
“What’s exciting here, even beyond the technology,” Ryan says, “is the opportunity to push the boundaries of what has been possible, make art history and reclaim a legacy.”
Progress Software, a company offering artificial intelligence-powered digital experience and infrastructure software, has launched Progress Federal Solutions, a wholly owned subsidiary that aims to deliver AI-powered technologies to the federal, defense and public sectors.
Progress Federal Solutions to Boost Digital Transformation
The company said Monday the new subsidiary, announced during the Progress Data Platform Summit at the International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C., is intended to fast-track federal agencies’ digital modernization efforts, meet compliance requirements, and advance AI and data initiatives. The subsidiary leverages MarkLogic’s data management and integration expertise, a platform that Progress Software acquired in 2023.
Progress Federal Solutions functions independently but will offer the company’s full technology portfolio, including Progress Data Platform, Progress Sitefinity, Progress Chef, Progress LoadMaster and Progress MOVEit. These will be available to the public sector through Carahsoft Technology‘s reseller partners and contract vehicles.
Remarks From Progress Federal Solutions, Carahsoft Executives
“Federal and defense agencies are embracing data-centric strategies and modernizing legacy systems at a faster pace than ever. That’s why we focus on enabling data-driven decision-making, faster time to value and measurable ROI,” said Cori Moore, president of Progress Federal Solutions.
“Progress is a trusted provider of AI-enabled solutions that address complex data, infrastructure and digital experience needs. Their technologies empower government agencies to build high-impact applications, automate operations and scale securely to meet program goals,” said Michael Shrader, vice president of intelligence and innovative solutions at Carahsoft.
In 2025, even as AI dominates headlines, research usage trends from Info-Tech Research Group reveal that CIOs are still focusing on evergreen frameworks and trusted resources to keep their organizations stable. The newly published Best of Classics in 2025 report from the global IT research and advisory firm analyzes the most frequently accessed research and tools, offering insight into how IT leaders are strengthening organizational fundamentals. The report’s findings highlight that organizational resilience depends on these core practices, which enable CIOs to balance rapid innovation with operational maturity.
TORONTO, Sept. 16, 2025 /CNW/ – As AI-driven disruption accelerates across industries, CIOs are leaning on proven frameworks and evergreen tools to provide stability and resilience. Info-Tech Research Group has published its Best of Classics in 2025 report, showcasing the most in-demand and consistently used resources by IT leaders this year. The findings show that while emerging technologies capture attention, the most trusted resources remain those that strengthen IT strategy, governance, project management, risk practices, and service delivery.
Research usage trends from Info-Tech Research Group reveal that CIOs are still focusing on evergreen frameworks and trusted resources to keep their organizations stable. The newly published Best of Classics in 2025 report from the global IT research and advisory firm analyzes the most frequently accessed research and tools, offering insight into how IT leaders are strengthening organizational fundamentals (CNW Group/Info-Tech Research Group)
These findings emphasize a dual focus for IT leaders; CIOs are leaning on evergreen frameworks like IT strategy, data governance, and project management to support innovation, while also seeking guidance on AI roadmaps and risk management. This simultaneous demand shows that the successful adoption of emerging technologies depends on well-managed fundamentals.
“Change is the headline, and fundamentals are the path forward to stability and long-term value creation,” says Info-Tech Research Group’s Chief Research Officer, Gord Harrison. “CIOs must prepare their organizations for AI-fueled change while ensuring the basics are executed well. By keeping strategy, governance, and process maturity at the forefront, leaders can mitigate risks, align with business priorities, and build a strong foundation for responsible AI adoption.”
Key Challenges IT Leaders Face in 2025
Despite growing investment in artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies, CIOs continue to encounter systemic challenges that can hinder progress. Info-Tech’s Best of Classics in 2025 report shows that many organizations struggle with the following challenges:
Balancing AI adoption with operational maturity and risk management.
Fragmented governance models that slow decision-making.
Resource constraints and competing priorities that delay project delivery.
Resistance to change that limits transformation outcomes.
Info-Tech’s Top 12 Research from the Best of Classics in 2025 Report
To help address these persistent challenges, Info-Tech’s report details the most relied-upon classic resources as actionable priorities for CIOs and IT leaders:
Build a Business-Aligned IT Strategy: This research is popular because it helps CIOs develop a mission-driven IT plan that aligns directly with business priorities, sets clear guiding principles, and translates them into an actionable roadmap. The result is stronger executive communication, better initiative prioritization, and governance structures that ensure IT consistently delivers business value.
Standardize the Service Desk: Leaders repeatedly turn to this research to build a solid foundation for IT service by assessing maturity, designing incident and request workflows, and documenting standard operating procedures. This improves efficiency, eliminates redundancies, and delivers faster, more reliable support for both users and technicians.
Tailor IT Project Management Processes to Fit Your Projects: Right-sizing project management practices to match the scope and risk of each initiative is critical. By applying lightweight approaches to small projects and rigorous frameworks to complex ones, IT leaders are able to increase throughput, reduce delays, and strengthen executive confidence in delivery.
Establish Data Governance: CIOs are using this resource to create an enterprise-wide governance program that aligns with business strategy and value streams to ensure data produces measurable business results. The outcome is stronger data quality, reduced risk, and a culture of data-driven decision-making.
Optimize IT Governance For Dynamic Decision-Making: This research provides guidance on redesigning governance structures to reflect how the organization truly operates by clarifying decision rights, defining accountability, and equipping committees with effective charters. It’s popular because it leads to faster, more transparent decision-making that avoids bottlenecks and supports business performance.
Design Your IT Organization For The Future: CIOs rely on this research to architect an IT structure that consistently delivers on enterprise objectives by aligning capabilities to business priorities, clarifying roles, and building adaptable teams. The outcome is a high-performing IT function that closes service gaps, boosts performance, and attracts and retains talent.
Implement AI For Customer Experience: Leaders use this resource to transform the customer journey from reactive to proactive by targeting high-impact AI use cases, defining requirements and governance up front, and designing scalable pilots. This enables greater personalization, faster resolution times, and stronger customer loyalty while managing risk.
Build an Information Security Strategy: This comprehensive blueprint remains essential because it helps organizations develop a holistic, risk-aware, and business-aligned security program. By gathering requirements, assessing risks, conducting a gap analysis, and creating a flexible roadmap, security leaders are able to strengthen cyber resiliency and ensure security investments generate measurable business value.
Build a Robust and Comprehensive Data Strategy: IT leaders continue to access this research to align data initiatives with business goals by engaging stakeholders, defining guiding principles, and mapping projects to measurable outcomes. The result is stronger executive support, better decision-making, and long-term business value from data investments.
Design an Enterprise Architecture Strategy: CIOs turn to this resource to build EA strategies anchored in business value by defining vision, goals, principles, and services that connect enterprise objectives to IT outcomes. This approach clarifies EA’s role, strengthens stakeholder support, and enables architects to guide projects in real time.
Develop a Project Portfolio Management Strategy: This research helps leaders create a coherent portfolio approach that balances supply and demand, secures executive buy-in, and aligns processes to strategic goals. IT leaders and project managers use it to maximize project value, improve throughput, and deliver initiatives that consistently meet business expectations.
Rationalize Your Application Portfolio: CIOs frequently leverage this blueprint to establish an evergreen application portfolio management program that eliminates redundancy, reduces costs, and improves scalability. By assessing the current state, creating a central inventory, and aligning applications with business priorities, IT leaders are simplifying oversight, retiring low-value apps, and building roadmaps that deliver measurable ROI while supporting digital transformation.
The firm’s Best of Classics in 2025 report also highlights the top diagnostics, SoftwareReviews vendor quadrants, training programs, workshops, industry research, keynotes, and AI marketplace reports that remain essential to the success of IT leaders. Together, these resources are providing CIOs with evergreen frameworks and structured methodologies to support transformation while maintaining resilience. The blueprints outlined in the report also include tools to assess governance maturity, concierge services to streamline vendor analysis, training programs to build leadership and AI skills, and workshops to solve pressing IT problems with measurable outcomes.
“Even as emerging technologies shift priorities, the fundamentals remain the backbone of IT leadership,” explains Harrison. “Info-Tech’s research classics deliver enduring value by ensuring organizations don’t just move fast, but also move wisely.”
Info-Tech’s Best of Classics in 2025 report brings together the most relied-upon blueprints, diagnostics, vendor guides, and training programs that CIOs use to keep their organizations grounded. Collectively, these resources provide practical tools and structured methodologies that help IT leaders align strategy with execution, strengthen governance, and sustain transformation efforts while preparing for the accelerating AI revolution.
Info-Tech Research Group is one of the world’s leading research and advisory firms, serving over 30,000 IT and HR professionals. The company produces unbiased, highly relevant research and provides advisory services to help leaders make strategic, timely, and well-informed decisions. For nearly 30 years, Info-Tech has partnered closely with teams to provide them with everything they need, from actionable tools to analyst guidance, ensuring they deliver measurable results for their organizations.
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Little is known about how novel viruses such as SARS-CoV-2 evolve or how conditions such as dementia develop at the molecular level, but ProRNA3D-single helps fill those gaps and generate more accurate maps of the inner landscape. Now, instead of guessing, drug developers can analyze where viruses attach to human proteins and design treatments to block them. That could dramatically cut the time and cost of interventions and speed up responses to outbreaks.
“If you remember the COVID-19 pandemic and the mRNA-based vaccine that actually helped a lot — that vaccine worked because it was an RNA-based therapeutic,” said Sumit Tarafder, a fourth-year Ph.D. student on the project. “Modeling of protein-RNA interactions in 3D is crucial, so that we know where the drug can actually target molecules that cause disease.”
Not only that, but by generating new data about RNA-protein interactions, the ProRNA3D-single model creates insights that could lead to groundbreaking treatments for a range of maladies.
While the Virginia Tech team used viruses as a case study, “the method is fully generic. It’s not specific to a single type of virus or a family of viruses,” Bhattacharya said. “This method can be applied to any use case.”
Open science, global impact
Innovative methods like ProRNA3D-single don’t come easily. Two years of work have gone into this project.
Alumnus Rahmatullah Roche, Ph.D. ’24, did much of the coding, publishing more than a dozen papers on the subject during his doctoral work. He has since joined Columbus State University as a tenure-track assistant professor.
“The lead Ph.D. students did enormous work,” Bhattacharya said. “They did most of the heavy lifting.”
Discoveries like these can improve life on a national and even global scale, and as science in the public interest, this project has received funding from the National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation. Not only is the research paper open access, but Bhattacharya is making the new tool itself freely available for scientists to try for themselves.
“We can’t overstate the importance of investing in science to benefit society. We believe that openness is the key to making science accessible to everybody,” Bhattacharya said. “Taxpayers fund us, so we have an obligation to give back, which is why we make our work open source and publicly available.”
The team hopes to continue development of the tool to improve its accuracy and get even more detailed models of various biological processes.
“We should constantly remind ourselves the problem is far from being solved,” Bhattacharya said. “We made progress, yes, but we’re mindful of the fact that these models have a long way to go.”
