OceansAdvance Inc. of St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Universidade Federal do Rio Grande (FURG) of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, signed a memorandum of understanding at the Rio Oil and Gas Expo to collaborate on research and development, technical exchange, and technology transfer focused in the ocean and marine sector.

OceansAdvance is the organization that represents the Newfoundland and Labrador ocean technology cluster, and FURG is a public university with a mandate to offer a broad suite of academic and research programs and to strengthen its affiliation with the ocean and marine industries and industrial development organizations.

The two parties have agreed to foster the development of direct contacts and cooperation between government organizations, institutions, universities and research centers private sector firms and intergovernmental organizations. They  have agreed to collaborate in areas such as sharing best practices on cluster development initiatives, sharing human resource development strategies, and stimulating joint research and technology development activities.