The Ocean Technology Expo, a business-to-business trade show sponsored by New York-based Marine Technology Reporter, opened yesterday at the Rhode Island Convention Center.

It is the first time the annual show has been held in Providence, said publisher John C. O’Malley. “This area of the country is a hub for marine technology, and Providence, we felt, was the ideal location for this exposition,” he said at the Rhode Island Convention Center as the show got under way.

The show also allows Rhode Island’s marine technology companies and related organizations a chance to exhibit their work, said John Riendeau, business development manager for defense and homeland security at the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation.

Among the companies at the expo was Middletown-based Smiths Detection showcasing their remote video-surveillance and communications system, already in place in southern parts of Narragansett Bay.