Atlantic Canada has taken the next logical step in its decade long effort to build a regional expertise in oceans technology with the formation of an industry-led consortium that is vying to become one of a handful of federally funded innovation superclusters. Petroleum Research Newfoundland and Labrador (PRNL) and Clearwater Seafoods Inc have submitted a letter of intent to the federal government in a joint bid for supercluster funding.

The multi-sectoral consortium — which has the support of all four Atlantic premiers — is comprised of academic and industry partners, including Cuna del Mar, an investment firm focused on offshore aquaculture, and Emera, an energy and services company. Clearwater Seafoods is a Nova Scotia-based company co-founded by John Risley and Colin MacDonald. PRNL is a not-for-profit organization with members from the oil and gas industry that facilitates research funding for industry.

Together, the partners have committed $150 million to the initiative, which will focus on accelerating the development of ocean resources through the digitalization and application of new technologies, a trend that has been the growing globally. PRNL defines digitalization as “the use of digital technologies to change a business model and provide new revenue and value-producing opportunities”.

Companies in the sector, such as Norway’s Statoil, for example, have been investing in digitalizing their operations and resources. In May, Statoil, which has operations in St John’s and Calgary, said it would invest NOK 1-2 billion (CAD$159-318 million) towards its corporate-wide digitalization roadmap leading to 2020.

“There’s an opportunity in Atlantic Canada to lead the application of digitalization and the development of new digital technologies in the ocean industry space. It’s an area where we've got a lot of leadership,” says PRNL president David Finn.

Atlantic Canada is world-renowned for ocean technology research, products and services. The region is home to some 140 companies that generate an estimated $330 million in sales annually, according to the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency. The region also boasts world-class R&D institutions teeming with academic and technical experts.

The region has already laid the groundwork for an oceans cluster. It was successful in attracting nearly $250 million in public and private sector funding to create the Ocean Frontier Institute, a collaboration between Dalhousie Univ, Memorial Univ, Univ of Prince Edward Island, three provinces, three federal departments, 19 industry partners and eight international collaborators, including four of the top five global ocean institutes. Like the proposed supercluster, OFI is working to drive economic growth in Atlantic Canada in sectors such as aquaculture, fisheries, shipbuilding and offshore energy sectors.

“This (supercluster initiative) could be a step change for the region. We've got a lot of world-leading capability in ocean science, and our universities here are well recognized as leaders…,” says Finn. “But one of the gaps in Atlantic Canada is the connection between the universities and start-up community with the major industrial users of ocean technology.”

Finn says he expects the level of activity among these different sectors to scale up over the next five years if they succeed in winning supercluster funding.

“The model of the supercluster is that it will require more engagement between the innovators and the end users. That is a really big opportunity to increase the relevance and increase the flow of intellectual property up the value chain from the universities and SMEs into the market,” adds Finn.

Earlier this year, a subcommittee of Liberal MPs from all four provinces threw its support behind an oceans supercluster as one of five of its recommendations for economic development.

“Our oceans cluster is a real growth opportunity,” states a May 15 report by the Atlantic growth strategy committee on innovation. “This area currently represents only 2% of the Canadian economy in comparison with 5% of the global economy. The ocean economy is predicted to grow to 15% of the global economy due to population growth and loss of other food supplies, etc. The future ocean economy will be managed with the assistance of complex algorithms and by fish capture with robotics and drones. We need to invest to understand our oceans even better, to know its resources and address climate change.”

The subcommittee also sees leveraging an oceans supercluster to help grow other emerging clusters, such as biotechnology/bioscience, cybersecurity, smart grid/clean growth and agri-food.

With files from Debbie Lawes

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