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www.seadiscovery.com Marine Technology Reporter 27

Canada. IOT’s ice tank, towing tank, and wave tank along with the flume tank down the road at the Marine Institute make for an excellent environment to test marine tech- nologies.

What do you see as the top challenges to successfully reaching this goal?

JR The world’s oceans are not unlike outer space when it comes to some of the technology challenges of exploration and development. However, most of the countries with space exploration programs aren’t putting the same level of support towards oceans exploration. And then there are parts of the world that may be facing sig- nificant challenges in coastal and ocean management but without the funds or awareness of the types of subsea tech- nologies that could help address the problem. So aware- ness of this technology area and funding for R&D can be a challenge. Those of us in the business have an ongoing role to promote it! Another challenge, again in the area of coastal and ocean management, is interoperability of sys- tems so that as ocean observing projects expand, they can ‘talk’ to each other. This underscores the importance of international collaboration on technology R&D in the subsea industry.

What government programs are in place, or being created, that are directly geared towards expanding the business of your Canadian companies?

JR There are various programs across different parts of the country. For information on these government pro- grams, you can to refer to www.canadabusiness.ca and fol- low the links depending on where you are in the country and what specifically you’re looking for. When it comes to international business development – for Canadian com- panies or companies outside of Canada looking to partner with Canadian companies, the best place to look for infor- mation is www.tradecommissioner.gc.ca.

Can you detail, specifically, the funding or programs available to Canadian companies that are intended to help them expand in the Subsea sector?

JR While Canada's very active in terms of marine technology as a whole, there are very few programs that specifically target the subsea sector. By using the Canada

Business or Trade Commissioner links above, you can find (Photo cr edit: Lisa Pier cey)

Jane Rutherford is a trade commissioner with the Canadian department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.