Opportunities for Industry

NEPTUNE represents an important opportunity for the Canadian private sector. It is expected that the entire project, in the USA or Canada, will be open to bids from Canadian companies, competing (or possibly in cooperation) with American companies.

There is a broad array of opportunities for Canadian companies, breaking down into two basic types: opportunities related to selling to the NEPTUNE Project the services, technologies and equipment required to build and operate the NEPTUNE system, and opportunities related to using the system for experiments and testing.

Building and Operating the NEPTUNE System :

Design, development, testing, construction and installation of components of the basic network:

* Cable network
* Shore landings
* Communication and control systems ·
* Undersea research nodes
* Shore control systems
* Management and service facilities·

Scientific equipment to be installed on the network, including:

* Remotely operated observatories
* Manipulators
* Samplers
* Passive and active acoustic sensors
* Chemical sensors
* Geophysical sensors
* Oceanographic sensors (chemical, physical and biological)
* Communications systems
 
Autonomous and tethered vehicles capable of monitoring, sampling, performing maintenance functions, and obtaining video images:

* Large vehicles adapted for tasks related to deployment and maintenance of network nodes and their associated experiments
* Smaller vehicles to be employed in situ at nodes to collect data, samples and visual images as required
 
Subsea service equipment capable of performing such tasks as:

* Winching scientific equipment up and down the water column
* Ensuring that instruments and equipment are kept clean of organic fouling
* Drilling shallow holes in the ocean floor
* Clearing debris
* Repairs
 
Technologies for collecting, storing, archiving, finding, and massaging large quantities of data collected over decades.
 
Management, operation and maintenance of the system, including:

* Offshore servicing of the system
* Onshore servicing of the system
* Data management
* Analysis, interpretation and application of the information coming from NEPTUNE
* Management of the experiment process
 
Education and public outreach

* Public relations
* Development of products for education and public awareness
* Marketing and sales
 
Experiments and Testing

A major benefit of NEPTUNE to the Canadian private sector will be its availability for experimentation and testing. NEPTUNE will be a dynamic meeting place of Canada's science and industrial communities, working together to utilize this leading edge system to develop the information, technologies and equipment needed to maximize the value of NEPTUNE itself, and also to help us meet the larger objective of responsible stewardship of the ocean based on a solid scientific foundation. For example:

  • Resource industry companies will use NEPTUNE to probe and understand the ocean as a safe and sustainable source of mineral and energy resources.
  • Companies in the seafood industry, both wild and farmed, will utilize the NEPTUNE system to help them understand the changes in currents, temperature and nutrient loads which are vital to their productivity.
  • Instrumentation companies will use the system to experiment with new ideas, and to test their products under development or redesign.
  • Companies in the information and communications technology sector will use NEPTUNE as a test bed for new technologies in subsea communications systems.
  • The environment industry will have, in NEPTUNE, an invaluable source of long-term data to help it understand and model of climate change and its effects.
  • The education and distance learning industry will benefit from a new, reliable source of fascinating information and images.

 

An added advantage of this leading edge system is the fact that it will attract scientists and science-based industries from around the world, seeking to utilize NEPTUNE for their own experiments. This will open up new opportunities for Canadians to collaborate and joint venture with overseas partners.

Many people believe that NEPTUNE is but the first of many such large scale subsea research networks destined to be installed around the world. This poses the opportunity for international contracts and sales.

NEPTUNE's Commercial Structure
 
The University of Victoria and the CNMB are currently considering various organizational options for the NEPTUNE project. An important consideration is NEPTUNE's commercial interface: where and how Canadian companies can stay fully informed of commercial opportunities, register their interest, bid for contracts, and become involved in other aspects of research and technology development.

Companies are encouraged to visit this site regularly. At this key stage it is also helpful for us to hear from companies expressing their interest in, and support for, the NEPTUNE project. Please see the "Contact Information" page.

Contracts

 
The US/Canada NEPTUNE Management Board awarded its first public contract in October to Fugro Seafloor Survey Inc. of Seattle to carry out a desktop study of the proposed cable route and landings.

 
University of Victoria