Victoria, BC, September 18, 2020 – CEO and Co-founder of Open Ocean Robotics, Julie Angus, was recently appointed to the Innovation Advisory Board (IAB) for NATO’s Maritime Unmanned Systems Initiative (MUS).

The NATO MUS initiative is a multinational cooperation effort that aims to accelerate the development and integration of maritime unmanned systems across Allied and Partner navies. The IAB is tasked with advising the MUS Steering Board to accelerate and scale the NATO MUS Initiative across the full spectrum of the maritime domain.

Board Members of NATO’s Maritime Unmanned Systems Innovation Advisory Board.

With Members from government, academia, theatre, business, and the technology sector, the IAB seeks to “bring ideas from everywhere” to advance the application of unmanned systems on, above and below the water.

“We are so fortunate to have Julie join the IAB, not only is she a respected scientist, and innovative entrepreneur, but a world-renowned adventurer, that brings with her a unique perspective and understanding of the ocean having rowed across the Atlantic. This deep understanding of the ocean is critical for designing systems and networks for the maritime environment, which can be significantly more challenging than other domains. Julie joins an amazingly talented and diverse group of innovators, all volunteering their time and expertise to help solve some tough challenges ahead for the NATO MUS Initiative,” said Michael Brasseur, Director, NATO Maritime Unmanned Systems Innovation & Coordination Cell.

“I am thrilled to join the MUS Innovation Advisory Board and support NATO in advancing maritime unmanned systems in Allied and Partner navies.  As the CEO of an unmanned surface vehicle (USV) company, I see first-hand the transformative impact innovative technologies in autonomy, AI and marine robotics have in helping us better understand and protect our oceans. I look forward to making a difference and helping advise NATO on how to accelerate the adoption of unmanned systems to overcome the challenges we face in our oceans.” said Julie Angus.

The IAB will be chaired by the Director of the MUS Innovation and Coordination Cell, Michael D. Brasseur. Members (alphabetical order): Ajay Amlani, Senior Vice President, Corporate Development at Idemia Identity and Security USA; Michael D. Brasseur (Chair), Director for Naval Armaments Cooperation at the U.S. Mission to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the first Director of NATO’s “Start-up” the Maritime Unmanned Systems Innovation & Coordination Cell (MUSIC²); Deeph Chana, PhD, Co-Director of the Institute for Security Science Technology at Imperial College, London, and Founder and Director of a technology development consultancy specializing in critical-infrastructure and smart-city applications; Gordon B. “Skip” Davis Jr, NATO’s Deputy Assistant Secretary General for the Defense Investment Division; Merel Ekelhof, PhD, Senior Project Analyst at the Strategic Engagement and Policy Division of the US Department of Defense Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC); Amir Husain, Founder and CEO of artificial intelligence company, SparkCognition, and founding CEO of SkyGrid, a Boeing and SparkCognition joint venture; Camille Le Provost, former Merger & Acquisitions Director at BNP Paribas and Rabobank, and current Company Manager for the next Lion King musical production in Paris; Vincent D. McBeth, Managing Partner at Gartner, Inc.; Emily Mintman, Project Manager for the Tactical Advancements for the Next Generation (TANG) Program at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory; Keit Pentus-Rosimannus, Member of Parliament, Estonian Parliament; Peter W. Singer, PhD, Strategist at New America; João Sousa, PhD, Professor at the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at Porto University and Head of the Laboratório de Sistemas e Tecnologia Subaquática (LSTS; Underwater Systems and Technologies Laboratory); Sarah Traverso, Head of Multi-Media Production, Coca-Cola; Mildred Troegeler, Director, Global Airspace Integration for Boeing NeXt; Josh Wells, Founder and CEO of Planck Aerosystems, Inc.

About the NATO Maritime Unmanned Systems (MUS) Innovation

The NATO Maritime Unmanned Systems (MUS) Initiative is a U.S.-led multinational cooperation effort which aims to accelerate the pace of development and integration of unmanned systems in Allied and Partner navies.  The Initiative was launched by Defense Ministers from 13 Allies in October of 2018.  In 2019, the MUS Initiative made significant headway, including the creation of the MUS Innovation and Coordination Cell (MUSIC^2), an industry symposium, and Europe’s largest ever maritime unmanned systems operational experimentation exercise, REP(MUS), hosted by Portugal last September.

About Open Ocean Robotics

Open Ocean Robotics is a marine robotics and ocean data analytics company using proprietary solar-powered uncrewed surface vehicles (USV) to collect and analyze ocean data.  This offers offshore industries, governments and ocean researchers the ability to understand and operate in the marine environment more easily, safely and affordably. The company offers specific services in seafloor mapping, marine mammal detection and enforcement against illegal fishing. Open Ocean Robotics has won numerous recognitions including: NACO’s Most Promising Startup of the Year 2019, Cleantech Group’s One to Watch 2020, BC Business Innovator of the Year 2020, Ready to Rocket CleanTech 2020 and Creative Destruction Lab graduate 2020.

For more information please contact:

Samantha Davies, Communications Lead, Open Ocean Robotics, sam@openoceanrobotics.com

Or please visit https://openoceanrobotics.com where you can find more resources on unmanned maritime systems.