Eastwaters     The Marine website of Newfoundland and Labrador

Canada's marine technology businesses are becoming
familiar international names

In the modern marine world, commercial and otherwise, information and communications technology (ICT) has become essential to the operation and navigation of vessels, and to other marine related activities.

Canada's ICT industry is a world leader in such fields as electronic navigation charts and charting systems, voyage data recorders and mobile communications, and it is in the forefront of various others. Encouraging and supporting these efforts is the Canadian Centre for Marine Communications (CCMC) in St. John's, NL. This member-based organization works with entrepreneurs, government and academia to develop the Canadian marine ICT industry 

Names like Rutter Technologies, Nautical Data International, ICAN (International Communications and Navigation) Limited, and GeoResources Inc. are becoming familiar in sectors of the marine industry. Each of these businesses has benefited from CCMC investment or other assistance to get started. 

It all began in 1989 when the Marine Institute, a division of Memorial University of Newfoundland, initiated setting up a branch office in St. John's of Communications Canada, a federal agency. The idea was to develop marine communications technology. Soon the emphasis shifted to working with small businesses to both develop and commercialize that technology, and this is the path the CCMC continues to follow. It is essentially a seed venture corporation that invests in small businesses in the marine information technology field.

That's a diverse field. Among its services, the CCMC lists support for technology development and commercialization. Under that heading it has specific initiatives in marine intelligence systems; marine geomatics; the Information Seaway™ covering information, communications and navigation technology; a SmartShip™ program to develop shipboard products and services;  wireless research and development; and what it calls the Marine Information Skyway dealing with marine applications for satellite communications.

Then there are the CCMC's support services such as market intelligence and resource references for emerging businesses, plus its role as a business development hub for international enterprises. The CCMC also provides information about the general marine ICT industry, including a CCMC directory of 120 Canadian companies actively involved in the industry, the CCMC's own market database, and its resource centre.

What businesses belong to the CCMC? They represent the full range of firms with interests in marine ICT, from shipping to the environment. They are located across Canada, although there is a heavy concentration in the Atlantic provinces due to "natural geographic clustering," says Randy Gillespie, CCMC vice-president. He adds that the agency recently established offices in Rimouski, PQ, and Ottawa, ON, and hopes soon to have a presence in Vancouver or Victoria, BC. 

An example of a member company is C-Core, founded back in 1975 in St. John's, to do research and development in ocean environments with particular attention to oil and gas. Today, it is global in scope providing R and D to various natural resource sectors including fisheries, aquaculture and oil and gas. Rutter Technologies, mentioned above, has developed and is marketing internationally voyage data recorders (like aircraft "black boxes"), or VDRs, for the shipping industry. Rutter was founded in St. John's in 1998 by a former CCMC employee in partnership with two other CCMC member companies, Sigma Engineering and Consolidated Technologies, and received major investments from the CCMC. Today, Rutter VDRs and other high-technology safety products are in use in several popular cruise ships where they are now required by law, and the firm has opened offices in Europe to sell Rutter's wares in that busy market..

The CCMC is funded from several sources. Return on investments in small businesses, management fees on investment funds, and advisory services for government provide major income. Presently, it is self-financing, says Gillespie, "but with much appreciated funding from ACOA (Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency) over the past 10 years, and ongoing support in-kind from the Marine Institute," which is also where the CCMC has its offices.

Asked how Canada ranks globally in marine information and communications technology, Gillespie replies that the CCMC hopes to develop a profile of the international ICT community, but at present its figures indicate the industry in Canada employs 11,000 people and generates $1.5 billion annually. The Newfoundland companies mentioned at the beginning of this article, he says, are world-renowned in their fields.

From small fishing and pleasure boats up to massive container ships and tankers, electronics are now a fact of life afloat. Marine information and communications technology is becoming "pervasive" aboard ship in virtually all sectors of the marine industry, says Gillespie, and there are now even specialized trade journals dedicated to the subject. Canadian companies, including those in Newfoundland and Labrador, are carving their own niches in this field.

Click here to visit the Canadian Centre for Marine Communications website.

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