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By Valerie Shore
3D rendering of an instrument used in the NEPTUNE array. The economic and public outreach potential of two world-leading ocean observatories based at the University of Victoria are the focus of Canada’s newest Centre of Excellence for Commercialization and Research (CECR).
The $6.5-million Ocean Networks Canada Centre for Enterprise and Engagement (ONCEE) has been established through the federal CECR program to help observatory researchers get their innovations from the lab to the marketplace and disseminate new knowledge to policy-makers and the general public.
The centre will be nested within Ocean Networks Canada (ONC), the non-profit agency created by UVic to develop and manage the VENUS and NEPTUNE Canada ocean observatories.
“These two observatories are serving the interests of not only university researchers, but also government scientists, private sector companies and the public,” says ONC President and CEO Dr. Martin Taylor. “This centre will help ensure that they generate the benefits for Canada that were always intended.”
The VENUS and NEPTUNE Canada observatories combine continuous power, remotely operated sensors and instruments, and the streaming of real-time data through the Internet. They both involve a national consortium of university, government and private sector partners led by UVic.
The two observatories are viewed as prototypes by countries such as Japan, France, the US, Taiwan and China, who are building or planning ocean observatories of their own. “The eyes of the world are literally on Canada,” says Taylor. “We are in the lead and will be for the next few years.”
About 500 Canadian firms are involved in ocean technologies, exporting some 90 per cent of their goods and services internationally. In BC alone, the ocean technology sector generates about $1.2 billion worth of economic activity.
ONCEE will help maintain this international competitiveness and the supply of trained people in four areas of market opportunity: subsea sensors and instruments, ocean observatory system technologies, advanced information technology products and services, and public outreach and education.
“We’ll build on existing partnerships between observatory researchers and relevant Canadian and foreign organizations,” says Taylor. “Where suitable industry partners can’t be found, ONCEE will help establish new spin-off companies.”
Through ONCEE, Canadian manufacturers will test and demonstrate their components, optimize their products for other markets, and link with other emerging observatories. Suppliers of ocean observatory technologies will market their products more effectively and exploit their world-leading position. Commercialization of new data management systems will create next-generation software applications in many sectors.
ONCEE’s education and outreach initiatives will lead to more informed public policy related to the oceans, greater public understanding of ocean issues, and increased awareness among young people of career opportunities in ocean-related science and technology.
Taylor says that the CECR funding, which is matched by an equal amount from partners, is especially important because it signals the vital linkage between investment in the capital and operating costs of research, and achieving returns on that investment.
“We will continue to work with the federal government to ensure that sustained operating funding is in place for the VENUS and NEPTUNE Canada observatories so that the benefits to Canada are fully realized.”
More information: www.oceannetworks.ca
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