Vanguard Magazine

34 JUNE/JULY 2019 www.vanguardcanada.com Naval "The world is changing. Digital technologies and data are increasingly disrupting the norm and enabling new ways in doing things, introduc- ing new possibilities to pursue and changing how we interact with our environment and each other." — RAdm Casper Donovan BY MaRCEllo sukhdEo the future of A s a maritime nation with the longest coastline in the world, and being sur- rounded by water on three borders, Canada requires relevant vessels to manage both domestic and international obligations. These ships play a fundamental part in protecting sovereignty, search and rescue missions, surveillance, seaborne transportation and logistics needs. Currently, Canada is working to outfit the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) and the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) through the National Shipbuilding Strategy (NSS) with modern vessels to perform their du- ties, but what is the future of shipbuild- ing? That topic was the centre of discus- sion at this year's Ship Tech Forum. On March 5, 2019, Vanguard held its sixth annual ShipTech Forum, enabling dialogue among industry, government and military and sharing lessons learned from a ship-tech perspective. The future of shipbuilding is one that consists of innovation, building hubs that will support the advancement of maritime technologies, improvement in fusion welding, and 'digital twin' management. However, to get to that future, we need to learn from past and current experi- ences and understand what is important to Canada. "The world is changing," said RAdm Casper Donovan, Director General Fu- ture Ship Capability, RCN. "Digital tech- nologies and data are increasingly dis- rupting the norm and enabling new ways in doing things, introducing new possibil- ities to pursue and changing how we inter- act with our environment and each other." RAdm Donovan made those remarks dur- ing the opening keynote message to kick off the one-day conference. During the rest of his presentation, he went on to answer the question of what this technological change means for the RCN. Guided by the government's direction as highlighted in Canada's defence policy, Strong, Secure, Engaged, and through the NSS, RAdm Donovan pointed out that the RCN is looking forward with a sense of how they need to change to ensure success as an institution in the changing world. He said that, in their view, the answer lies in two words: digital navy. "Changing the Navy one sailor at a time is what we are after with digital navy. We will build tomorrow's Navy around our sailors, inspiring them, their families and Canadians at large, with a digitally enabled organization that stands tall for Canada and Canadians," added RAdm Donovan. To get there, the RCN has to "leverage the best practices of leading-edge indus- tries and empower sailors with a culture where innovation and change are the long- term determinants of success." RAdm Donovan highlighted three as- pects to make the digital-navy vision a re- ality. Firstly, a look as to where the Navy needs to be in the future. This is about embracing technologies in the world to- day, even to the point of utilizing social media to interact with people. Second, digital navy spans the whole institution of the RCN, the fleet of fighting ships, the underpinning enterprise and the sailors. shipBuildiNg iN CaNada It's about taking stock of where we are today and planning for where we want to be tomorrow

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