COVE recently joined industry, government, and international partners at Oceanology International 2026 in London, UK, with a clear objective to accelerate international expansion for small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs) by reducing friction in market entry and adoption.
As a global technology partner, COVE works directly with companies to move technologies from development to deployment – connecting them to customers, test environments, and supply chains across allied markets.
Throughout the week, COVE focused on the practical barriers companies face when expanding internationally: export readiness, supplier qualification, and navigating defence procurements systems in both Canada and the UK.
COVE CEO Melanie Nadeau moderated a series of roundtable discussions hosted at Canada House, where industry and government leaders highlighted key constraints impacting supply chain growth:
- Workforce capacity is limiting scale on both sides of the Atlantic, particularly in advanced engineering and technical roles.
- Procurement and Industrial & Technological Benefits (ITB) processes remain complex and time-intensive, slowing transactions and creating barriers for new entrants.
- Supply chain access requires stronger bilateral alignment – including joint procurement approaches and strategic partnerships that enable SMEs to integrate into allied programs.
- Data sovereignty, IP protection, and differing cybersecurity certification requirements across jurisdictions create added complexity and compliance burdens for SMEs, making cross-border market entry more challenging.
- Large-scale international defence investment vehicles are often structured around prime-led delivery models, reinforcing the importance of clear, intentional pathways for SMEs to participate and integrate into allied supply chains.
These are friction points that determine whether companies can actually enter and compete in international markets.
COVE’s role is to work with companies to overcome these barriers in practice by:
- Providing access to real-world testing and validation environments.
- Connecting companies directly to end users and procurement pathways.
- Supporting supplier qualification and integration into trusted supply chains.
- Enabling faster entry into allied markets through established international partnerships.
In parallel, COVE’s VP | Market Development, Ashley Orser, participated in a panel discussion hosted by Innovate UK focused on navigating dual-use innovation, while COVE and Innovate UK convened recent and past participants from our global incubator program and heard directly from UK companies who have successfully established a presence in Canada through the program’s structured market entry support.
The week reinforced COVE’s strategy and clear alignment between Canada and UK priorities, further underscored by the momentum at the leadership level with Prime Minister Carney and High Commissioner Blair advancing cooperation on defence industrial capacity and supply chain resilience.