RI has become a military technology leader, especially in the areas of undersea technology and surface surveillance technology, due to the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) and the Naval War College in Newport as well as the U.S. Base Realignment and Closure Act of 2005, which decided to maintain or grow military programs in Newport.

According to an R.I. Economic Development Corporation report, about 22% of all scientists, engineers, and technicians in RI were directly involved in the defense industry last year.

In a recent visit to the URI Graduate School of Oceanography, retired Adm. Jay M. Cohen, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s undersecretary for science and technology, informed local technology companies that a certain percentage of his budget was set aside for gambling on new technologies.

...he issued an open invitation to contact his staff with ideas and sales pitches. “I’m open for business,” Cohen told the group.

Also recently, General Dynamics announced it would need to add 200 new people to its already 2,000-person Electric Boat plant in Quonset Point, North Kingston to meet the upcoming demand.

One startup technology company, LiveWave, has already surfed to success by adopting their video streaming technology from surveilling animals in zoos to defense surveillance. Formed in 1999, LiveWave was bought by U.K.-based Smiths Detection in 2005 for $17.6 million in cash.