COVE’s Digital Harbour: Seabed to Space will digitally monitor the Halifax Harbour with an integrated system incorporating data sourced from stationary and mobile platforms located underwater, on the water’s surface, on land, in air, and via satellite. It will provide visualizations and interpretation tools to a breadth of commercial and other operational users to make informed qualitative decisions about activities in, on or near the harbour.
“Digital Harbour revolutionizes the marine sector. For the first time, it creates opportunities for the public and private sectors to access integrated real-time data related to the environment, biology, and port traffic and uses, to make better decisions and create opportunities and partnerships to build Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning solutions,” said Melanie Nadeau, CEO, COVE. “Halifax’s dense cluster of innovative ocean and aerospace companies paired with naval, commercial, research, and recreational activities that occur simultaneously in a constrained physical harbour space make it the optimal location for a project of this scope.”
The Government of Canada, through the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA), is providing COVE with a non-repayable contribution of $497,706 for phase one of Digital Harbour: Seabed to Space. This phase of development will focus on a front-end engineering design and furthering the proof of concept with stakeholders. The contribution is being provided through ACOA’s Regional Economic Growth through Innovation (REGI) program.
“As one of the world’s largest and deepest natural harbours, the Halifax Harbour is a hub for commercial activity. This project is the first step to creating a system that collects and analyzes data from seabed to space to help users make important operational, logistical, security and lifesaving decisions in real time,” said Darren Fisher, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Seniors and Member of Parliament for Dartmouth – Cole Harbour. “Partnerships like this one between COVE and CarteNav showcase Atlantic Canada’s capacity for world-leading innovation – creating new opportunities and enhancing the region’s competitive advantage.”
“At CarteNav, we are thrilled to partner with COVE on the Digital Harbour initiative. This project is an important step for Atlantic Canada’s marine industry, providing real-time data and insights for the public and private sectors starting right here in our backyard,” said Nick Edwards, Vice President & General Manager of CarteNav. “The ability to monitor the Halifax Harbour from seabed to space will be a testament to the region’s community of world-class technology companies, and we are honoured to be a part of it. With the help of COVE and the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, we are excited to see this project’s potential to challenge how we think about ocean monitoring and data applications globally.”
COVE is a world-leading innovation centre and global tech hub with a mission to create the world’s next commercial and revolutionary tech advances. With wharves, machine shops, in-water labs, co-working space, programming, and access to talent, it’s the only place that has everything a marine tech company needs to grow and where new ventures prosper. COVE brings people, ideas, industry and research together to enable our community and members to develop new products and services. COVE’s founding partner is Irving Shipbuilding Inc. (ISI) under the National Shipbuilding Strategy Value Proposition.
CarteNav, established in 2002, develops ISR Mission Software for security, safety, economic, and environmental operations. The team has built its reputation on embracing challenges others may avoid, such as integrating with the world’s most innovative sensors that extend the operator’s capabilities far beyond the status quo – achieving ISR capabilities for threats that are complex and without boundaries. And with 600+ customer installations in over 60 countries, CarteNav’s ISR Mission Software is built to be highly adaptable for meeting today’s diverse operational requirements.
The Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) works to create opportunities for economic growth in the region by helping businesses become more competitive, innovative and productive, by working with diverse communities to develop and diversify local economies, and by championing the strengths of Atlantic Canada. ACOA also plays a pathfinding role to help people and organizations take advantage of resources and develop new partnerships.