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US-based investor and board adviser David Fox has been appointed non-executive director by the Australian uncrewed surface vessel manufacturer Ocius.
Fox is expected to bring more than 40 years of business experience in strategic partnerships, commercialisation and value creation to the company and add a strong North American lens to Ocius.
Fox was appointed non-executive director on Friday, 28 November this year at the company’s annual general meeting.
Over the past three decades, Fox has invested in over 100 emerging companies, with a focus on transformative innovation and building globally competitive ventures. He was an early investor in Ocius during 2002 and has previously served on the board from 2003 to 2006.
“There’s a duality that you’ve got to keep in the company of rapid prototyping and standardisation. Because when you build volume, but you’ve got to be very standardised with those. We’re in an evolving field where innovation keeps going,” Fox said.
“Ocius has (now) got this ISO 9001 certification (international standard). That’s really a big deal. It’s an international standard that you have practice and processes in place. It means there are buyers who will demand that the company is certified to that standard.
“There’s a lot of countries surrounded by a lot of water. It would be a general purpose sort of surveillance vessel (for many countries).”
Ocius recently held a public event to launch their first-of-its-type hybrid Bluebottle, which enables Ocius Bluebottles to operate in more locations globally.
The Bluebottle Hybrid uses the same hull as the current 24-foot renewable energy powered Bluebottle, meaning that the hybrid vessels use the same logistics and trailers but carry both diesel power and their unique keel winch for storing and deploying thin line arrays.
