The University of Victoria is making a big splash in the so-called “blue economy,” where climate change, natural hazards, security concerns and other factors are fuelling new marine-based business around the world.
UVic’s strong position comes through the presence of the NEPTUNE and VENUS ocean observatories, undersea cable networks off Vancouver Island that provide researchers with continuous physical, chemical, biological and geological data from beneath the waves.
The technology that powers the networks has broad applications for other ventures linked to the ocean and the potential for growth as part of the blue economy is huge, said Kate Moran, president of UVic-based Ocean Networks Canada — which operates NEPTUNE and VENUS.
“It’s an emerging economy, and it’s really driven from the fact that we have increasing global population and increased use of the oceans.”
On top of that, most commerce has some dependence on the oceans, Moran said.
“Over 90 per cent of the products that we use globally are transported by ship,” she said.
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An Ocean Networks Canada business division — the ONC Innovation Centre — has been established to explore commercial applications for the NEPTUNE and VENUS technology. Its goal is to become self-sustaining and deliver $270 million in business over the next seven years.
This year began with $18-million worth of international contracts under negotiation.
“What the centre is established to do is help Canadian industry grow and tap into that international market,” Moran said.
A prime example is the signing of agreements to develop sensors for a tide-energy project in Nova Scotia, an example of what Moran called “exactly those kinds of growing markets that we’re uniquely positioned for.”
There have also been talks with Brazil, where there is interest in emulating the UVic example with an underwater-cable system for marine research.
But the applications go far beyond that, said Innovation Centre director Scott McLean.
“Brazil, as an example, is looking at an investment of $225 billion in five years just for their oil-and-gas sector,” McLean said. “We’re looking at countries investing staggering amounts of money in offshore projects.”
Port security is another promising realm, as is public safety related to early-warning systems for tsunamis and earthquakes. The capability of NEPTUNE and VENUS technology in theses areas is being expanded through another program, Smart Oceans B.C., that is adding more infrastructure to the monitoring effort.
A round of federal funding for Smart Oceans B.C. was announced in April through Western Economic Diversification.
“It was about $9 million to put infrastructure in for marine safety, public safety and environmental monitoring,” McLean said. “We hope to make B.C. a showcase for a world-class safety program and market it in other countries.”
Vancouver, Campbell River, Port Alberni, Prince Rupert and Kitimat will have locations for a series of smaller-scale ocean observatories to be installed through the program over the next year or so.
The Innovation Centre is part of a national program, McLean said, so it has the potential to benefit universities other than UVic.
Technology developed at ONC is owned by UVic. “My responsibility is to protect that [intellectual property] and commercialize it,” McLean said. “UVic definitely benefits, but it’s not direct.”
McLean said UVic and ONC have a management agreement in place. Revenue that comes in goes first to meet the expenses of the Innovation Centre, and beyond that goes to ONC. Money generated beyond the annual operating expenses for ONC — about $15 million — would go to the university, McLean said, but it is a lofty benchmark.
For example, he said that if the $270-million goal for business activity over the next seven years is realized, 90 per cent of that would go to industry. “The 10 per cent or so that comes into ONC would pretty much all come to fund the Innovation Centre.”