Why this is important to Wisconsin businesses: Based in the Atlantic region of Canada, the Ocean Supercluster was created in 2018.
Started in 2018 and based in the eastern (Atlantic) region of Canada, Canada's Ocean Supercluster is a private sector-led partnership that brings companies together to increase sustainable innovation and modernization across business sectors related to the ocean. It is a consortium of private investors and government funding with a goal to increase the value of this nation's ocean economy by $14 billion and 3,000 new jobs over the next 10 years. Ocean industries in Canada contribute about $30 billion a year to the economy and make up 1.5% of the country’s gross domestic product.
The Ocean Supercluster utilizes the combined strengths of ocean-related industries including marine renewable energy, fisheries, aquaculture, oil and gas, defense, shipbuilding, transportation and ocean technology. By exploring and adopting emerging technologies, the supercluster will digitize and optimize marine operations, maximize sustainable approaches to resources, and increase safety for those operating in marine environments.
The partnership will also invest to develop and attract talent, increase supply chain opportunities, and foster more ocean startups to develop the entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystem. The technology focus is on digital sensors and monitoring, autonomous marine vehicles, energy generation, automation, marine biotechnology and marine engineering technologies. According to Industry Canada, program streams involved in the Ocean Supercluster include:
- Ocean sensing and characterization: collaborative R&D projects to develop improved, reliable and scalable technologies for short-term/long-range ocean ecosystem
- Operational intelligence: develop monitoring observatories with real-time data integration
- Data analysis and visualization: develop and advance digital twin concepts for use across ocean industries; develop intelligent, highly automated technology in harvesting
- Innovation ecosystem: Support projects that will foster partnerships and facilitate interactions
The Ocean Supercluster is part of the federal Innovation Superclusters Initiative, a flagship co-investment with private industry in five sectors: protein industries, next-generation manufacturing, artificial intelligence, digital technology and ocean science.