The Ocean of Data Challenge is an event where participants work use one or more types of ocean data to create a diagram, a technology solution, an analysis of data, or something else, as long as it is a solution to the Challenge. To help narrow down the scope of the challenge, it is broken down into three Challenge Streams: Under the Water, On the Water, and Around the Water.
DeepSense and the Centre of Ocean Ventures and Entrepreneurship (COVE) decided to join forces to create an event that not only shows the importance of ocean data, but also to encourage interdisciplinary thinking! The ocean sector isn’t just for marine biologists and fishers, there are numerous opportunities for those working in oceans.
Any part-time or full-time students ar post-secondary institutions in Atlantic Canada are welcome to join either on their own or on a team of up to 5 people. We want to encourage interdisciplinary teams, so anyone one studying Computer Science, Engineering, Biology, Sustainability, Business, or any other programs is invited to join!
Keep an eye on our social media for when we announce the next Challenge. Once announced, you will be asked to sign up for the introduction webinar where you will learn more about the Challenge theme. Afterwards, signed up participants will be emailed a registration form and the challenge is kicked off.
To ensure any student across Atlantic Canada can participate, the challenge is all virtual.
Join the Ocean of Data Challenge by DeepSense, COVE, The PIER, and ShiftKey Labs for some creative collaboration and idea generation! This free event will kick off on Monday, June 10th at 6pm ADT with an introduction to the Challenge, presentations from experts, and the chance to ask questions to help idea exploration. Participants will be asked to submit videos on Sunday, June 23th, and judges will have a week to review submissions before announcing winners the following week.
The challenge is broken down into three Challenge Streams: On the Harbour, In the Harbour, and Around the Harbour. Individuals and teams will be asked to choose one stream and provide interdisciplinary ideas for exploring rare events in the Halifax Harbour. Each stream can be used to explore different types of data, for example: “On the Water” can explore how a rare event may impact shipping traffic, “In the Water” can explore the impact of rare events on the Harbour ecosystem, and “Around the Water” can analyze the impact of a rare event on the community surrounding Halifax Harbour.
This Challenge allows you to work at your own pace to explore ways to learn about vessel, ecosystem, and community data, meet others with the same interests and bring together unique skills to create a team (or work solo). This is a fantastic way to show off your design, programming or other talents, not to mention more than $2,000 in prizes!
Challenge Stream #1 Theme: On the Harbour
This theme explores the impact of rare events on vessel traffic in the harbour. Some examples you may want to consider include the impact of closing down the harbour for a few hours, how vessel traffic adapts during a weather event, the systems in place for vessels to communicate and navigate around each other safely.
Challenge Stream #2 Theme: In the Harbour
This theme explores the impact of rare events on the Halifax Harbour ecosystem. Some examples you may want to explore include how weather events, like hurricanes, affect the aquatic ecosystem, indicators that can be used to predict how a rare event could disturb the harbour ecosystem, preventative measures that could buffer the harbour ecosystem from a rare event.
Challenge Stream #3 Theme: Around the Harbour
This theme explores the economic and social implications of a rare event in Halifax Harbour. Some examples you may want to think about include how the community around the harbour may respond and adapt to a rare event, how people and goods are moving around the harbour if a bridge/ferry/ or ship is disrupted, tourism around the harbour, or impacts of cruise ships on the community.
The best ideas come from interdisciplinary teams, so we invite those studying Computer Science, Engineering, Biology, Sustainability, Business, or any other programs! As long as participants are students who are registered full or part-time at an Atlantic Canada post-secondary educational institution or graduated from one of those institutions in the past 12-months. You can go solo, or work with a team of up to five people. The Challenge kick-off will take place online on Monday, June 10th at 6 pm ADT, with a recording uploaded the next day. Please ensure you read the Official Rules below.
The Rules
November 2 – 9, 2021
Post-secondary students from institutions across Atlantic Canada are invited to use ocean data to explore the opportunities with the proposed Bedford Ferry and help transform the daily commute of thousands living in the Halifax Regional Municipality.
February 8 – 15, 2022
The Ocean Frontier Institute joins COVE and DeepSense to help host the second Ocean of Data Challenge. Teams explored interdisciplinary ideas and concepts that would help coastal communities adapt to impacts cause by climate change.
May 2 – 20, 2022
Join the Halifax Port Authority, PSA Halifax, COVE and DeepSense for the next Ocean of Data Challenge!
PSA Halifax now owns the Fairview and the Atlantic Hub container terminals in Halifax, making our port unified like few others. The Port of Halifax now has one terminal operator, one railroad operator, and one port authority. This change helps Halifax become a One Port City and will create new opportunities for our community.
November 7 – 21, 2022
Centre for Ocean Ventures and Entrepreneurship (COVE), DeepSense, and ShiftKey Labs hosted the fourth Ocean Data Challenge supporting creative collaboration and idea generation. Students were invited to use ocean data to examine what should our future digital harbour look like.
February 13 – 27, 2023
Centre for Ocean Ventures and Entrepreneurship (COVE), DeepSense, and ShiftKey Labs hosted the fifth Ocean Data Challenge supporting creative collaboration and idea generation. We are surrounded by text data. From social media, books, magazines, journal publications, and handwritten documents, there is no shortage of text about the ocean or climate change. Participants used this challenge to explore text data and share something insightful, shocking or simply informative.
May 24 – June 5, 2023
The sixth OOD Challenge was hosted by DeepSense, The PIER, COVE, and ShiftKey Labs.
Participants were asked to imagine new ways to bring together the City of Halifax and the Port of Halifax in a greener, more efficient and sustainable way, to answer the ultimate question: How can we create a greener port?
With 100 students registered, 5 different Atlantic Canada universities represented, and a total of 12 different academic programs, we would all this a huge success!
November 1 – 20, 2023
The seventh OOD Challenge was hosted by DeepSense, COVE, ShiftKey Labs, Ocean Startup Project, CIOOS, and Fisheries and Oceans Canada.
Participants were asked to imagine how can ocean data help us understand Canada’s ocean health, ocean economy, and ocean people?
With 240 students registered, 10 different post-secondary schools across Canada represented, and a total of 14 different academic programs, we would call this a huge success!
1 – 20 novembre 2023
Le septième défi Océan de données a été organisé par DeepSense, COVE, ShiftKey Labs, le Projet Startup Océan, le SIOOC et Pêches et Océans Canada.
Les participant(e)s ont été invité(e)s à imaginer comment les données océaniques peuvent nous aider à comprendre la santé des océans, l’économie des océans et les populations océaniques du Canada.
Avec 240 étudiants inscrits, 10 écoles postsecondaires différentes à travers le Canada représentées, et un total de 14 programmes académiques différents, nous pourrions qualifier cet événement d’énorme succès !
5 – 20 February 2024
Postsecondary students were invited to consider the role of the seafood industry in Canada. Answer the ultimate question: How does the seafood industry impact Canadians? Participants used fisheries, aquaculture, and trade data to examine how we can illuminate the significant role of the seafood industry in our day to day lives.
Our newsletter and online community will help you connect with like-minded people, learn about how to participate in the growing potential of AI, and discover the infinite uses of ocean data.