COAST continues to come together

Welcome to this week’s Sunday Briefing. In this issue, you'll read a recap of two Victoria companies' involvement in the Canada Women’s Business Mission to Japan, learn some tips for negotiating your next salary, contextualize Victoria's social media use, and plenty more.

-James, @jimmermatthews

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 Jason Goldsworthy joins COAST

Building on the achievement of receiving $2 million in government funding, COAST has added to its senior leadership by hiring Jason Goldsworthy as its Executive Director. Goldsworthy will be tasked with continuing to build COAST’s reputation and international capability as Pacific Canada’s hub for the sustainable blue economy — and running with the company's financial momentum.

“We’re thrilled to welcome Jason to our team at this exciting point in COAST’s trajectory,” says Emilie de Rosenroll, founding CEO of COAST. “COAST has built tremendous support for our work, and with Jason’s leadership, we’ll accelerate this momentum and help propel the incredible talent and energy of B.C.’s ocean and marine innovators.”

Goldsworthy was most recently a general manager of Australia’s Westside Group of Companies. Prior to that, he served as the operations manager for Vancouver Island at environmental consulting firm Pinchin, and as CEO of Victoria-based Accumulated Ocean Energy. He holds a PhD in Engineering from the University of Adelaide and is registered as a Professional Engineer with Engineers and Geoscientists of British Columbia.

“I’m excited to return to Victoria from Australia for this opportunity because of the enormous potential of B.C.’s oceantech and marine industries, and the integral role COAST plays in building Pacific Canada’s innovation ecosystem, which includes industry, government, and research partners,” Goldsworthy said. “The world needs more climate-conscious ocean and marine innovation, and B.C. is uniquely positioned to offer this.”

It’s true. Companies in COAST’s jurisdiction like Open Ocean Robotics (which also received funding in the same round as COAST) are at the forefront of meeting this need. There is a significant market to tap into, too, with the world’s ocean economy slated to hit $3 trillion by 2030. Goldsworthy will be looking to ensure Victoria is a place where oceantech innovators can strike gold.

🏙️ Community catchup, powered by VIATEC

2023 ACIS Research Symposium

Join UVic on May 17 to 19 for the Advanced Control and Intelligent Systems (ACIS) symposium.

The two-day summit will help UVic researchers and industry to network and learn more about the work conducted in the ACIS lab. As part of the event, the ACIS team will discuss their current research projects, collaborations, and curiosity-driven discoveries which entail research and creative work in all its forms, including in AI, industrial automation, and autonomous vehicles.

The researchers will also talk about how humans can interact with devices, and manage information and data analytics. ACIS's areas of expertise are perception, planning, and decision-making, which lead to autonomous and intelligent systems.

Driven by UVic’s Aspiration 2030, which states that UVic researchers can make a difference in creating a better world through curiosity, engagement, and innovation, the event aspires to discover innovative solutions to industry’s biggest problems, and invites its internal and external partners to empower their work and direct their actions.

📰 More Victoria innovation news

🇯🇵 Victoria on the world stage: Victoria-based firms Joni and Origen Air were two of the 35 Canadian companies that participated in the Canada Women’s Business Mission to Japan. Read the recap.

🤝 Negotiating compensation? Jillian Climie, co-founder of The Thoughtful Co, a local consultancy for women's workplace equity, wrote her insights on her organization's blog: Five lessons from compensation negotiation.

📱 Love me some social scrolling: Victoria has earned the title of the most social media-obsessed city in Canada, with 5,758 average monthly searches per 1,000 people, according to a CasinoBonusCa.com study. Dive in.

🕴️ Tech jobs of the week

Find your next career:

• Senior Data Architect at BC Public Service

• Developer (Intermediate) at ICBC

• Privacy Analyst at BC Public Service

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

📅 Upcoming events

April 19: Health Tech Nights #8 sponsored by VitaminLab and VIATEC

April 26: Salesforce User Group - Victoria re-launch event

May 4: Life Sciences British Columbia Showcase Series: Vancouver Island

Have an upcoming event? Reply to let us know.