Rhode Island ocean economy reception

The Council on Geostrategy, in partnership with The Rhode Island Commerce Corporation, is pleased to invite you to a special reception and discussion as part of the Sea Power Laboratory, highlighting Rhode Island’s ocean economy and maritime innovation ecosystem.

The maritime environment, which both the United Kingdom and the United States are dependent upon for their economic prosperity, is deteriorating. Rival powers have built up their naval forces at an alarming rate, and the maritime industrial capacity of Britain and America is struggling to keep up with demand. Facing these challenges, the Royal Navy and the US Navy have begun rapid exploration of how their forces can and should evolve to face the changing threat picture and secure the interests of their respective countries.

This invitation-only event will convene senior leaders from government, defence, industry and finance to explore the growing intersection of sea power, autonomy, offshore energy and maritime industrial capability, with a particular focus on opportunities for transatlantic collaboration and allied maritime resilience.

Panellists

Ben Cipperley

Chief Strategy Officer, HavocAI

Ben Cipperley is Chief Strategy Officer at HavocAI. In this role, he directs all aspects of the company’s future vision, including engineering, operations and go-to-market planning. He is also developing and directing the company’s overseas expansion to key Indo-Pacific, European and Middle Eastern partners. Having served 26 years in the US Navy as an Explosive Ordnance Disposal, he has most recently served as the Director of the Chief of Naval Operations Strategic Actions Group for the 33rd Chief of Naval Operations (CNO). In this position, he led the development of the Navigation Plan for America’s Warfighting Navy (the CNO’s core strategic guidance to the Navy), which articulated its first vision for the adoption of robotic and autonomous systems and enabling the advanced warfighting networks and capabilities to fight from Maritime Operations Centres.

Ian Estaphan Owen

Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder, Jaia Robotics Inc.

Ian Estaphan Owen is Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder of Jaia Robotics Inc. The first 12 years of his professional life were spent in the Royal Navy before he took leadership positions at Lockheed Martin UK and Raytheon UK. He moved continents to join Raytheon’s US operations in 2007, followed by roles at WHOI, Bluefin Robotics, Sonos and Aquabotix, gaining invaluable insight into the potential of using micro-sized autonomous marine vehicles to collect data at a very low cost, before co-founding Jaia Robotics in December 2020 and building it into a revenue-generating blue tech powerhouse disrupting the aquatic drone market.

Geoff Manchester

Chief Technology Officer, Vatn Systems

Geoff Manchester is Chief Technology Officer at Vatn Systems. He is an accomplished engineering leader and innovator with extensive experience in developing cutting-edge technologies. As a co-founder and CTO at Vatn Systems, he leads multidisciplinary teams and collaborates with external partners to advance the capabilities of Vatn’s S6 and S12 Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs). Under his leadership, Vatn Systems continues to push the boundaries of innovation, positioning itself as a disruptor in the rapidly evolving autonomous underwater drone industry.

Richard Powell OBE DL

Director, QinetiQ

Richard Powell OBE DL is Director at QinetiQ, Chairman of the Maritime Defence and Security Group Council and Board member of the Society of Maritime Industries. He is a member of the Shipbuilding Enterprise for Growth advising the government on shipbuilding and also sits on the Shipping Defence Advisory Committee addressing the global threats to UK shipping. Internationally, he is the UK Maritime lead for the AUKUS Pillar 2 Advanced Capabilities Industry Forum, working with UK, US and Australian government officials and Trade Associations, to represent UK maritime interests in the development of the Tri-National submarine and advanced technologies programmes. Prior to this, Richard was a Royal Navy Commodore from 1980 to 2017 serving as an aviator and destroyer captain, before becoming UK Defence and Naval advisor to Australia in 2014. He has an MSc from Kingston University and MAs from Deakin University and King’s College London.

Viktorija Starych-Samuolienė (moderator)

Co-founder (Strategy), Council on Geostrategy

Viktorija Starych-Samuolienė is Co-founder and Director of Strategy at the Council on Geostrategy where she is responsible for the organisation’s strategy and growth. She is also a Fellow of the Durham Institute of Research, Development, and Invention (DIRDI). Her areas of expertise include Eastern European politics and security and Euro-Atlantic geopolitics. Her previous experience included research and external affairs roles at the Henry Jackson Society. Viktorija has appeared multiple times in the national and international media and on broadcast television and is a regular attendee and speaker at British and international conferences on foreign policy and security issues. She holds an MA in Intelligence and International Security from King’s College, London, and a BA in Political Science from Vilnius University.

For more information, please contact [email protected].