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in global markets. ?The bene t of OceansAdvance and NATI working together collaboratively to assist the sector is huge,? says Taylor. When C-CORE wanted to apprise cluster members of their latest initiatives related to resource development in the Arctic and Canada?s Northern regions?LOOKNorth and the Centre for Arctic Resource Development (CARD)? the Ocean Technology Speaker Series, co-sponsored by the City of St. John?s and OceansAdvance, invited them to present in the meeting room at NRC-IOT where. the series meets six times a year. ?The roundtable venue creates a mechanism for feedback and discussion,? says C-CORE CEO Charles Randell, ?which is a great way to generate and gather new ideas,? Even though it seems that the cluster is  ring on all cylinders, a glance under the hood points to some challenges ahead. ?We?re maxing out the capabilities of our academic partners,? says Anthony Patterson, who adds that more infrastructure for both academia and the private sector is needed to step up the rate of innovation. ?What we have now is not suf cient to meet the needs of the opportunities we are uncovering. We need more facilities and HQP.? O?Reilly suggests how these requirements can be met. ?What has helped us get to this stage is a foundational piece that we need to build on aggressively,? he says. ?Imperatives for growth are new intellectual property, new products and services that can be commercialized, an increase in HQP and, of course, an abundance of new start-up SMEs.? He adds that to achieve these objectives, both increased institutional research output and industry commercialization, as well as new models, will be required. ?We need innovative platforms where industry-led directed research can be developed, matured and sustained in partnership with universities and research organizations,? he says. ?We are currently conceptualizing the development of industry-led consortia where companies partner on a shared pre-competitive research agenda.? O?Reilly adds that this would provide the potential to (1) achieve new intellectual property, (2) create an environment where new graduate students can  ourish, and (3) stimulate new company growth. He is quick to admit that there are challenges that need to be overcome, but he also sees ?fantastic opportunities? as the cluster?s collaborative culture matures, continuing to demonstrate that ?the whole is greater than the sum of its parts?. He sees the existing alignment and cooperation providing the foundation for the development and sustainability of the new models. Patterson points out there are groups actively exploring O?Reilly?s idea, and concurs that it?s achievable. Putting this aside, he sees the cluster surpassing the $1 billion revenue target by 2015. ?The companies that are bringing products to market from Newfoundland and Labrador are very innovative,? he says. ?They?re becoming larger and they?re establishing more sophisticated distribution networks. Innovation matched with companies with established market presence is what?s giving us our growth rates. In my view, the billion dollars is a milestone we will hit and then surpass, and then we?ll set another milestone.? In the meantime, there are companies that are waiting to make breakthroughs, Patterson says. ?Connecting university collaboration with market opportunity,? he adds, ?works extremely well.? He cites Provincial Aerospace, with 900 employees, and Rutter, Inc., with 100 employees, who became large companies headquartered in Newfoundland and Labrador with employees in other countries. ?When you get a breakthrough,? Patterson says, ?you?ve got to have a global presence. That?s what we?re all dreaming for.? Atlantic Canada Supplementwww.seadiscovery.com Marine Technology Reporter 37The private sector is the muscle that takes the creativity and innovation coming out of the academic milieu and converts it into something that can be used in the real world.Anthony Patterson, Chair, OceansAdvance orld.rld.TheTheMTR2 Canada Supplement 32-48.indd 37MTR2 Canada Supplement 32-48.indd 372/22/2012 3:08:44 PM2/22/2012 3:08:44 PM