Welcome to this week’s Sunday Briefing. In this issue, read about the BC Centre for Innovation and Clean Energy’s upcoming call for innovation, a wave energy plan on Nootka Island, the winners of a Social Impact Award, and a pause in bus services for Island residents.

Now onto today’s briefing. It’s 822 words: a three-minute read.

-Emily, [email protected]

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$10 million up for grabs for cleantech innovators

Do you work in cleantech? The BC Centre for Innovation and Clean Energy (CICE) announced its upcoming call for innovation, with a total of $10 million in non-dilutive investment earmarked for B.C.-based organizations.

As an independent not-profit, CICE’s investments target high-impact technologies and solutions with the potential to bring the world one step (or hopefully several steps) closer to net-zero.

“Some of the best new ideas come from the least expected places,” said Todd Sayers, chief operating officer at the organization. “This much-anticipated call is CICE’s opportunity to discover new advancements and emerging innovation hotspots in B.C.’s transformative landscape of clean energy. We look forward to expanding our province-wide view into emerging clean energy solutions and climate technologies that are ready for commercial development and global scaling.”

CICE has already invested $21 million in over 20 projects. The latest call for innovation is focused on:

• Low carbon hydrogen

• Low carbon biofuels and synthetic fuels

• Carbon management

• Battery technology and energy storage

Those interested in clinching the cash can attend the CICE’s upcoming Q&A webinar on January 23, ahead of the application window which opens on January 29.

🏙️ Community catchup, powered by VIATEC

Meet a VIATEC member: Archipelago Marine Research

There are plenty of fish in the sea — but who’s counting them?

Based in Victoria — and with offices in Alaska, Oregon, Australia, Norway, and port cities up and down the B.C. coastline — Archipelago has spent the last 46 years providing electronic monitoring solutions for fisheries to support responsible marine resource management.

Among Archipelago’s services are:

• Electronic monitoring for bycatch mitigation, protected species interactions, catch accounting, and more.

• At-sea and dockside monitoring, to ensure compliance and to support data collection and validation.

• Coastal planning and design for responsible development.

• Marine monitoring and assessments to better understand and protect the marine environment.

📰 More Victoria innovation news

🌊 Making waves: A B.C. First Nation shared its hope to bring former residents back to their ancestral home of Yuquot on Nootka Island by harnessing the energy of the ocean.

🦅 Light as a feather: OneFeather celebrated its Social Impact Award win at the VIATEC Community Awards. OneFeather is an Indigenous technology company offering secure digital sovereign identity and data solutions.

🚌 Stop the bus: Canifor, the union for Pacific Western Transportation (PW Transit) workers, announced that buses will no longer run in Comox Valley and Campbell River, as a result of failed contract negotiations. The withdrawal of service began on Friday.

🕴️ Tech jobs of the week

Find your next career:

• Senior Application Specialist at BC Pension Corporation

• Assembly Technician at Industrial Plankton

• Executive Director at Capital Bike

• Digital Marketing Specialist at Westin Bear Mountain Resort & Spa

Hiring in Victoria? Reply to this email and let us know!

📅 Upcoming events

Jan 25 | Women Leaders in STEM Panel and Networking

All are welcome to join the iWIST community for a social evening to meet and network with other women in STEM, sponsored by Quicksilver Software Development. Hear from a panel of accomplished women leaders in science, engineering and technology: Christina Jones, Humaira Ahmed, Dr. Kathryn (Kate) Moran, and Dr. Katherina Tarnai-Lokhorst.

Have an upcoming event? Reply to let us know.

🙋 I need a…

We at Victoria Tech Journal know you, our community, pretty well. Are you searching for someone in your field to have coffee with, a hiring hookup, a lead on local investors, or suggestion for a great Victoria tech tool? Whatever you’re hunting for, let us know. We’ll post it in this section and make it happen.

Email your requests to [email protected].

Have something or someone we should know about? Reply or email [email protected] so we can work together to spotlight the lesser-known stories of Victoria's tech ecosystem.