The Canadian and British governments are collaborating on a new bluetech innovation competition, with the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency giving the Ocean Technology Council of Nova Scotia $275,000 to help run the program.

The competition will see teams from both countries compete to develop new sa ensor technology and communications systems for autonomous marine vehicles with the aim of helping ocean-going robots and their operators “see” in real time. In a statement, the two governments said the purpose of the initiative is to foster international business partnerships and innovation.

As well as the ACOA money, the Innovate UK government agency is spending another $275,000 to manage the competition on that side of the Atlantic.

Companies interested in applying for the $500,000 in total grant money tied to the competition will have to base their ideas on an as-yet-unreleased “problem statement.”

A virtual briefing for interested entrepreneurs will be held Oct. 31. Applications close Dec. 2 and competitors will be interviewed later the same month. The winners will be notified in early January, and research and development work on their proposals will start in April.

“We are leveraging relationships with our partners in the U.K. to further strengthen our respective ocean ecosystems and address challenges pertinent to developing our ocean economy,” said Chris Bourque, executive director of the Ocean Technology Council.

“Our companies are international and this program will further develop partnerships between Canadian and UK companies.”

More details and instructions on how to apply can be found here.