The Department of National Defence (DND) has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Canada’s Ocean Supercluster to strengthen Canadian marine sensing capability. The cluster made the announcement in Halifax on 7 October, the second day of the DEFSEC Atlantic defence exhibition, which runs from 6 to 8 October.
The agreement provides for the two organizations to explore pilots, testing, technology demonstrations and joint engagement with Canada’s ocean and defence innovation communities. According to the cluster, technology developed for commercial ocean applications can also address marine, Arctic and surveillance needs.
The Ocean Supercluster counts more than 1,000 member organizations and has supported nearly 170 projects worth close to $700 million in total. Industry Minister Mélanie Joly said the MOU would “help position Canadian companies at the forefront of emerging ocean technologies.”
The MOU also featured in a DEFSEC session on the Defence Investment Agency (DIA), a day after the government introduced Bill C-40 to establish the agency as a Crown corporation. According to a published account of the session, the cluster and National Defence convened their first joint marine sensors workshop on 6 October.
That account identifies Wendy Hadwen, who appeared alongside Ocean Supercluster chief executive Kendra MacDonald, as the DIA’s assistant deputy minister of policy. Hadwen formerly held National Defence’s assistant deputy minister for policy and industry post. The session account says she led the team that wrote the Defence Industrial Strategy.
Hadwen cited the Defence Drone Initiative as an example of how procurement can move faster. She said the first contracts were issued 60 days after the program’s announcement, after the military presented its requirements as problems for industry to solve.
She identified marine sensors as a potential next use of that approach. Canadian firms, she said, had developed sensors for oil and gas that the navy, the Coast Guard and the RCMP could also use. She described the DIA’s role as bringing this commercial work into discussions with the military and investing where Canada has gaps in production or scale.
Discussing Bill C-40, Hadwen said she expected it to pass in months, but would not estimate how long the process would take. She said the agency’s new investment powers would be developed alongside the Business Development Bank of Canada, Export Development Canada and Invest in Canada.
She said the DIA already has work underway on submarines, airborne early warning aircraft and drones. In her view, success would require action on all 10 sovereign capabilities identified in the Defence Industrial Strategy. Turning to the Arctic, she said anything built in the North must involve the communities there and leave them better off.
Companies attending the session expressed concern about how small firms find out about procurement opportunities. MacDonald said officials will hear a pitch, but a contract vehicle is needed to establish firm demand. Without that demand, she said, a company cannot raise venture capital.
Hadwen called for operators to join technology discussions earlier and highlighted BOREALIS, National Defence’s new defence research bureau. The bureau aims to speed access to new technologies for the Canadian Armed Forces and the Communications Security Establishment.
The House of Commons gave Bill C-40 its first reading on 6 October; the bill now awaits second reading.
Related coverage: For the legislation discussed by Hadwen, see Bill C-40 would let the Defence Investment Agency make loans and buy shares. The drone awards she referenced are detailed in Canada awards initial drone contracts worth up to $50 million.