This session introduces the international delegates to OTCNS’s partners in the ocean tech ecosystem in Nova Scotia and Atlantic Canada. In addition, to giving a “face” to the OTCNS’s partners for the international delegates to H₂O. Each representative will give a brief 5-10 minute presentation outlining their respective roles in the ecosystem and to show the strong level of partnership and collaboration between the partners.

The Ocean Outlook at H₂O: Home to Overseas 2023 will be the fourth of this annual collaboration event focusing on strengthening public-private partnerships in ocean research, innovation, operations, knowledge transfer, IP commercialization and procurement, bringing attention to national challenges and helping to focus the path to their solutions.

A strong government-industry partnership is a crucial part of delivering quality products and services to the government and to broadly benefit Canadians and Canadian industry, and for both communities the Ocean Outlook is intended to provide an invaluable networking opportunity to build relationships and form partnerships. For this year’s Ocean Outlook we are planning updates on Canadian innovation initiatives, including the Global Innovation Clusters program and Canada’s Ocean Supercluster, Innovative Solutions Canada, IDEaS (Innovation for Defence Excellence and Security), NATO DIANA (Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic), the Industrial and Technological Benefits Investment Framework and more, as well as departmental updates and B2G engagement opportunities.

New this year, the H₂O Ocean Outlook will include the National Marine Procurement Outlook, where participating departments—expected to include the Department of National Defence (DND), Department of Fisheries and Ocean (DFO) and Canadian Coast Guard (CCG), and Transport Canada (TC)—will provide an overview of upcoming procurements in areas such as small and large vessel construction, vessel repair, refit and life extension, in-service support and sustainment.

Canada’s Global Innovation Clusters (GIC) program is designed to help strengthen Canada's most promising economic clusters and accelerate growth in highly innovative industries while positioning Canadian firms for global leadership. The GIC program will be introduced by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) and then, coming off the successes of its first 5-year mandate, we will hear directly from the Canada’s Ocean Supercluster (OSC) to learn about its new mandate, its shared ambition to get to a $220 billion ocean economy in Canada by 2035, and what that means for all Canadians. This presentation will cover the OSC’s strategic pillars: Ocean Company Growth, Talent, Community Engagement and Canada’s Global Ocean Brand; its new co-investment focus areas: Scaled Ocean Energy, Sustainable Seafood, Future Transportation and Ocean Climate Solutions; the Ocean Startup Project; and linkages between innovators and the Transforming Climate Action (TCA) research initiative.

Canada’s Industrial and Technological Benefits (ITB) Policy, including the Value Proposition, leverages defence and Canadian Coast Guard procurements to contribute to jobs, innovation and economic growth across the country. Under the ITB Policy, the Investment Framework (IF) is a tool that encourages contractors to make long-term investments in Canadian small and medium sized enterprises (SME), in innovation-related areas involving R&D and commercialization activities. This panel will engage in a discussion framed by the IF policy, but will focus on its practical application, from the perspective of Canada’s Federal Government, Prime Contractors holding obligations, and SMEs taking advantage of the program.

The Dutch Ocean Group is a group of service companies and institutions from the Netherlands providing high tech products and services for coastal and marine monitoring, surveying and forecasting. The members of the group deliver products and services for collection, processing and distribution of hydrographical, hydrological, geotechnical, geophysical and ecological data for offshore projects, coastal developments and management

This session will look at three Canadian Federal Government programs focused on innovation, commercialization, and finding solutions for commercial and government needs. Innovative Solutions Canada is an initiative designed to stimulate technology R&D and commercialization of Canadian innovations, through its Challenge Stream, Testing Stream and new Pathway to Commercialization. IDEaS (Innovation for Defence Excellence and Security) is a Challenge Program designed to improve DND (Department of National Defence) access to the creative potential of Canadian innovators, from the early stages of an idea to the final testing in a real world environment. The Canadian Commercial Corporation (CCC) acts as Canada’s foreign military sales program, focused on the DPSA (Defence Production Sharing Agreement), supporting the US DoD in making acquisitions from Canada and positioning Canadian business to engage with the US DoD. All that and an update on NATO DIANA (Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic).

This PSPC (Public Services and Procurement Canada) led session will provide industry an overview of upcoming opportunities for doing business with Canada over the next two to three years. Partner departments, including the Department of National Defence (DND), Department of Fisheries and Ocean (DFO) and Canadian Coast Guard (CCG), and Transport Canada (TC) will present marine requirements in areas such as small and large vessel construction, vessel repair, refit, maintenance and life extension, in-service support and sustainment.

Today, institutional investors, including Venture Capital and Angel firms, along with philanthropic organizations and corporates, are making strategic investments in the blue economy. This is fueling the development of next generation innovations to address the major challenges that are faced in ocean exploration, aquaculture, traditional fisheries, defense, climate monitoring, and more.

During this panel discussion, we will hear directly from investors about why they’re investing in the blue economy, discuss the type of companies and technologies they’re investing in, learn what it takes to secure an investment, and hear what they see as emerging opportunities in the sector.

A skilled and adaptable workforce is critical to Nova Scotia’s and Canada’s marine tech competitiveness and sustainable economic growth for our sector. An industry-aligned, (i.e., demand-driven) comprehensive approach to skills development is essential in supporting businesses across the sector; this alignment would result in capacity building in the current and future workforce. A skills strategy partnership approach for the marine sector; that includes government, academia and industry, will drive solutions for talent development and address the difficulties the sector faces in building a talent pipeline that requires specific technical skills for industry. A panel of academic, government and industry experts will examine early career skill development with youth, on demand and industry driven credentials, and the new realm of “micro credentials” tailored for industry.

Ocean tech companies from across Canada are developing innovative solutions to some of our most pressing challenges and helping to accelerate industries transition to a more sustainable future. You'll hear from several Canadian founders who are building global ocean companies and learn about the challenges, successes and resources they've leveraged throughout their entrepreneurial journey.

One of the biggest challenges in underwater communications is the lack of practicality. You, the designer, must design your system around “what is”, not what you want it to be. To do this, you must understand the transmission path and the equipment that will transmit and receive the sound. You must also understand the commercial market. Your potential customers have needs and constraints; you must understand them and design an appropriate system. The technology is the easy part, bringing that technology to market will be longer than you anticipate.

Join us as the panelists discuss carbon footprints and bring to light what challenges we are facing with decarbonization and how we can overcome these challenges. We will learn about electric ferries and current projects underway in New Zealand and how a city’s ferry system is the forefront to a good city. How do we plan to make the transition from diesel to electrification and where we stand now in doing so. This will be an interesting and informative discussion with a dynamic group.

Offshore wind developers must conduct a substantial amount of survey work to design and build offshore wind farms. These efforts include assessments of the environment as well as development of mitigation and monitoring plans to avoid and/or mitigate potential impacts. These efforts, while necessary, do add substantial cost to projects and developers are always looking for new tools and strategies to support efficiencies that serve the dual purposes of lower the costs of energy while ensuring the development is sustainable for the environment and the people impacted by the development. In this panel we will discuss a range of “incubating” to commercially available innovations that focus on environmental assessment, monitoring and mitigation and can support a more efficient and sustainable buildout of offshore wind.

Marecomms Real Time In-Water Demo: Marecomms Inc. will present a live demo of their breakthrough subsea broadband acoustic communication technology in partnership with Geospectrum Inc. and the Halifax PIER at Seaport Halifax during the closing reception at 1209 Marginal Rd, Halifax. During the demo, live images will be transmitted and received under the water from Halifax Harbor to the PIER dock. The audience will also have a chance to see Geospectrum's state-of-the-art transducers and hydrophones in action during the demo.