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www.seadiscovery.com Marine Technology Reporter 45cluster in the Liguria region of northwestern Italy, which is home to a diversified group of SMEs, all directly and indirectly active in the marine sector. The DLTM business developer saw the potential for cooperative R&D projects and other joint initiatives with DLTM members, includ- ing research centers, and 112 SMEs associated with Tecnomar Consortium, an important member of the clus- ter. In addition to looking for opportunities for collabora- tive research and education initiatives, Baldini also sug- gested that an Italian company could do contract manu- facturing for a Newfoundland and Labrador-based com- pany, providing access to the European market while eliminating shipping and transportation costs. Your company could get to know a new market,? she said, and after a while, they could start their own business in Italy.? She added that the same arrangement could apply to Canadian companies doing contract research for Italian companies. Baldini said DLTM is interested in creating links in Newfoundland, not only for doing business but also to develop R&D and education projects?in line with the statutory aims of DLTM. Regarding collabora- tion in Newfoundland and Labrador, she said, There is a really strong connection between industry, research insti- tutes, and university.? Mr. Andrea Faccioli, Head of Business Development at Codevintec Srl in Milan, Italy, is a supplier of technology, including sensors to be used both on land and subsea tomonitor earthquakes. He was looking for marine and environmental sciences instrumentation products to add to his product line. Ocean business is keeping the com- pany running,? he said. Im here to see if there are new ideas, new opportunities I can bring to Italy.? Faccioli noted that in the last 10 years the percentage of Canadian companies he represents has increased significantly. Prior to the visit, he had received a number of client requests for AUVs, and so was pleased to learn about AUV develop- ment initiatives in St. Johns, both at the Autonomous Ocean Systems Laboratory at Memorial University and in the private sector. The mission highlighted many areas of common inter- est and opened the door to potential collaborationsbetween Newfoundland and Labrador ocean technology companies, educational and research centres, and the organizations represented by the European delegates.