Cannabis company James E. Wagner Cultivation in Kitchener is teaming up with Conestoga College to do research and development.

James E. Wagner Cultivation will work with Conestoga's Applied Research and Innovation Office and the Centre for Smart Manufacturing, it was announced Thursday.

"JWC is inspired to identify how the cultivation process can be even further streamlined with the adoption of advanced technology," the company said in a release.

That's what the first project between the company and the college will be — looking at current cannabis cultivation practices and figuring out how it can be advanced using new technology.

That will serve as "a stepping stone" to more advanced research, the company said. That may include creating autonomous systems and using virtual reality or augmented reality tools for training purposes.