Haligonians can expect drones operating overhead, vessels on the water and a large airship similar in appearance to a blimp
Long a hub for naval innovation and ocean and defence technology, Halifax is welcoming up to 600 innovators, researchers and industry leaders for a week-long initiative that brings NATO and Allied nations together to test and advance technologies that could address shared security challenges.
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The NATO Innovation Continuum is being hosted for the first time in Canada at the Centre for Ocean Ventures and Entrepreneurship (COVE) Oct. 5-9. Spearheaded by NATO Allied Command Transformation, the continuum focuses on accelerating the development, experimentation and adoption of emerging and disruptive technologies.
For Halifax, the event offers more than a high-profile gathering of international defence and technology leaders. Melanie Nadeau, the CEO of COVE, said the city can be increasingly attractive to international companies looking for a place to test and commercialize defence and dual-use technologies.
“I would argue that there are very few places in the world that have the environment that’s been created in Halifax, like this hub that we have in defence and security, particularly around innovation,” Nadeau said in a phone interview.
“It’s highly competitive in Canada, but it’s also highly competitive globally. That’s why I would also say that because of the strength within that ecosystem, we’re seeing countries from around the world showing significant interest. And that also includes not just countries and governments, but companies coming to us.”
Representatives from NATO and the Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA) are participating alongside military representatives from Allied nations. All three branches of the Canadian Armed Forces – Army, Navy and Air Force – are represented.
“It’s a pretty significant opportunity for them to engage,” Nadeau said.
The week-long program features technology demonstrations, experimentation and collaborative exercises addressing challenges ranging from marine safety and search and rescue to disaster response, Arctic operations, environmental monitoring, critical infrastructure protection and autonomous systems.
The demonstrations include drones operating overhead, vessels on the water and a large airship similar in appearance to a blimp.
Nadeau said the focus is not simply on demonstrating what individual technologies can do, but on understanding how they perform in operational environments and how they can work alongside other systems.
“Some of the technology that is going to be tested and evaluated will include things like cyber resiliency, AI-enabled training,” she said. “There will be mock exercises, like military problems, challenges that will be orchestrated with teams for them to see how their technology operates.
“The week’s events are really a culmination of months and months of work that both we and NATO Allied Command Transformation have been working on.”
The exercises give companies an opportunity to demonstrate their capabilities while also helping them better understand potential markets and the requirements for getting their technologies adopted.
“The intent is to demonstrate capabilities of how technologies can work in operational environments,” Nadeau said. “There’s going to be some operational exercises, and the opportunity around identifying potential markets, including Canada, that may have interest in certain technologies and capabilities.
“It’s really about strengthening and building relationships, not just with NATO but with military representatives. It’s sort of a path to market. It’s a really great opportunity.”
That connection is important for smaller companies looking to scale internationally. Nadeau said COVE works with more than 700 clients, ranging from innovators and small and medium-sized businesses to multinational companies.
“It’s understanding the bridge between what the problem is or what the requirements are and translating that to the innovators,” Nadeau said.
Halifax has a natural advantage in that equation.
The Nova Scotia capital combines a major naval presence with marine industries, defence companies, universities, research and an emerging technology sector.
Nadeau said international countries and companies are increasingly looking to Halifax to understand how they can use the ecosystem as part of their own commercial journeys. Hosting the NATO Innovation Continuum gives those relationships another avenue to develop while showcasing Canadian capabilities to an international audience.
“The ability to access all of these other nations is really important in terms of scaling these companies and providing other markets for them to sell into,” she said.
COVE’s roots date back to 2017-18, but its portfolio now stretches, Nadeau said, “from seabed to space.” It encompasses areas such as autonomy, secure communications, digital resiliency and Arctic surveillance.
“Technology, whether it’s secure communications, digital resiliency, autonomy, just really now has no more boundaries,” she said.
“Our big focus is on companies to allow them to scale so they can also compete globally.”
The NATO Innovation Continuum operates with controlled access and is not open to the public because of the international delegations, technical demonstrations and collaborative exercises involved.
COVE announced on Wednesday a $2.5 million non-repayable investment from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) to expand its Innovation Challenge program.
This investment will enable COVE to continue supporting Atlantic Canadian small and medium-sized enterprises to develop, collaborate and integrate innovative technologies against real operational needs of major Canadian and allied defence prime contractors.
Since 2023, COVE’s Innovation Challenge program has supported Atlantic Canadian companies developing technologies in areas including maritime robotics, digital shipyard solutions, environmental monitoring and operational analytics, a news release said.
More than $1 million in public and private funding has been deployed to participating businesses addressing operational challenges associated with the Arctic and Offshore Patrol Ship and Joint Support Ship-In Service Support program. It has generated four partnerships.
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