Global requirements and markets for marine environmental monitoring

Marine technology companies throughout the USA are reassessing technology needs and seeking to identify new markets. This is particularly true in the marine environmental technology industry, where declining opportunities in the USA may be offset by market growth overseas. This market expansion is being supported by the federal government with a number of initiatives underway to assist industry in accessing the international environmental technologies market. A first step was addressed in a market assessment undertaken by a team of three companies in New England: MicroSystems Integration, Inc., Marine Marketing Services, and Seguin Associates. The market assessment focused on a specific market sector: marine environmental monitoring systems. The objective of the market assessment was to characterize the global market for marine environmental monitoring sensors, systems, and information products and services; to provide industry with an overall view of market potential, and to identify regions where market opportunities exist. Five key assessment parameters were investigated to characterize the market within each region. A similar approach was used by the remote sensing industry in Atlantic Canada to investigate market potential for ocean and coastal remote sensing information. In characterizing the global market, this market assessment focused on four main regions.