{"id":422453,"date":"2022-11-17T10:01:00","date_gmt":"2022-11-17T09:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/innovationorigins.com\/?p=422453"},"modified":"2022-11-17T10:01:00","modified_gmt":"2022-11-17T09:01:00","slug":"call-for-a-stronger-european-photonics-strategy-holistic-view-is-needed-to-achieve-our-digital-ambitions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/en\/call-for-a-stronger-european-photonics-strategy-holistic-view-is-needed-to-achieve-our-digital-ambitions\/","title":{"rendered":"Call for a stronger European photonics strategy: \u201cHolistic view is needed to achieve our digital ambitions\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Why we write about this topic:<\/summary>

Integrated Photonics is a key technology that will enable many innovations in the coming years. In a series of 5 articles, we look back on the Photonics PIC Summit Europe. Read the other articles, once published, here<\/a>.<\/p><\/div><\/details>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe European Union will fail to advance towards digital strategic autonomy if it is not at the forefront of technological innovation and manufacturing resilience in both electronic and photonic chips.\u201d CEO Prof. Dr. Gabriel Crean of Luxemburg-based Lux Consulting Group<\/a>, thinks the new European Chips Act<\/a> is not enough to cover the needs of the photonics industry. \u201cPhotonic chips cannot be a simple \u2018add-on\u2019 to the EU Chips Act.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Prof. Crean, who was talking  at the PIC Summit Europe 2022<\/a>, held in Eindhoven on November 7 and 8, actions must be overlapping and reinforcing. \u201cIn other words, they need to be holistic, which means they will be addressing manufacturing capacity, a level playing field, trade restrictions, innovation, and support for training and education.\u201d On top of that, in order to achieve the European digital ambitions, speed is essential: \u201cThat\u2019s why I ring the alarm bell now. We have to move fast.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prof. Crean warned his audience that the biggest mistake for now would be to underestimate the changes the world has recently gone through. \u201cThis change is irrevocable. Covid, Russia\u2019s war, the tensions between China and the U.S., all have resulted in systemic impacts on energy, supply chains, investments. The EU economy faces unprecedented challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

<\/a>
<\/div><\/div>
In recent years, under the leadership of PhotonDelta, a solid foundation has been laid under the Dutch integrated photonics ecosystem. Read all about the applications here.<\/div>
Your Sneak Preview of the Future<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n

Industrial policy<\/h2><\/div>\n\n\n\n

One of the ways to counter this situation is, according to Prof. Crean, by implementing a European industrial policy and an economic resilience and capacity strategy. \u201cThe European Union is now at a pivotal point in its ambition for digital resilience. Think of cloud computing, cybersecurity, quantum computers. It is clear that the EU will fail to advance towards digital strategic autonomy if it is not at the forefront of technological innovation and emerging digital technologies.\u201d This asks for strategic autonomy in at least two identified technologies, he adds: microelectronics integrated circuits and photonic integrated circuits. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

With a current global share of 12 percent in InP manufacturing (as opposed to 35 percent for China and 53 percent for the U.S.), this is not a done deal for Europe. In silicon photonics, the situation is even worse: the U.S. industry controls 93 percent of global market share. Prof. Crean thinks this could even get worse if you look at the consequences of the U.S.-imposed trade limitations for European chips and chip machine manufacturers in their relations with China. And to make things even worse, there\u2019s the complete lack of level playing field. \u201cSelling our products to China is practically impossible right now, and not only because of these American trade restrictions. If you look at the tax advantages for Chinese companies, there\u2019s no way we can compete with them. We need to sit down with governments and EU authorities to get this level playing field.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNot an add-on\u201d<\/strong><\/h2><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Crean\u2019s warnings were directly addressed at the European Commission. Colette Maloney, the Commission\u2019s Head of Microelectronics and Photonics, answered them with a broader look at the context of the Chips Act, focusing on pilot lines for photonic chips. \u201cBut first of all: rest assured that photonics is an integral part of the Chips Act, not an add-on of some sort.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to mrs. Maloney, the EU has five main objectives with the Chips Act, all focused at creating a \u2018state-of-the-art\u2019 European semiconductor ecosystem. \u201cIt\u2019s about strengthening our research and technology leadership, reinforcing our capacity to innovate, substantially increasing our production capacity, addressing the acute skills shortage by attracting new talent, and developing an-in-depth understanding of global semiconductor supply chains.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mrs. Maloney says the European Chips Act and the \u2018Chips for Europe Initiative<\/a>\u2019 will bridge the gap between lab and fab. \u201cWe will build a virtual platform to reinforce Europe’s semiconductor design capacity, enhance existing and developing new pilot lines, build advanced technology and engineer capacities for accelerating the development of quantum chips. Also, we will create a network of competence centres across Europe, and establish a Chips Fund to facilitate access to loans and equity by start-ups, scale-ups and SMEs and other companies in the semiconductor value chain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, Maloney is aware that all these objectives depend on investments. She says the EU is preparing loans and equity schemes, through EIB and EIC. \u201cOn top of that, I want to invite the whole value chain to participate in the workshops we are organizing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PIC Summit Europe 2022<\/em><\/a> is a new congress, one of two photonic chip conferences in Europe and will return annually. It is expected to take place again next year in November. <\/em>PhotonDelta<\/em><\/a> is the lead organizer of the congress; the program was set up together with the <\/em>Eindhoven University of Technology<\/em><\/a> and <\/em>IPSR-I<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe European Union will fail to advance towards digital strategic autonomy if it is not at the forefront of technological innovation and manufacturing resilience in both electronic and photonic chips.\u201d CEO Prof. Dr. Gabriel Crean of Luxemburg-based Lux Consulting Group, thinks the new European Chips Act is not enough to cover the needs of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1568,"featured_media":511746,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"views\/single-partner.blade.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8553],"tags":[6597,74618],"location":[6763],"article_type":[36684],"serie":[],"archives":[],"internal_archives":[],"reboot-archive":[],"class_list":["post-422453","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-digital","tag-photondelta","tag-pic-summit-2022","location-netherlands","article_type-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"acf":{"subtitle":"One of the ways to counter the current situation is, according to Prof. Crean, by implementing a European industrial policy and an economic resilience and capacity strategy.","text_display_homepage":false},"author_meta":{"display_name":"Bart Brouwers","author_link":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/author\/brewbart\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/PIC-summit-2022-Lutz.jpeg","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["Digital<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Digital<\/span>"]},"tags":{"linked":["PhotonDelta<\/a>","PIC Summit 2022<\/a>"],"unlinked":["PhotonDelta<\/span>","PIC Summit 2022<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":"0","relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 3 years ago","modified":"Updated 3 years ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on November 17, 2022","modified":"Updated on November 17, 2022"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on November 17, 2022 10:01 am","modified":"Updated on November 17, 2022 10:01 am"},"featured_img_caption":"","series_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/422453","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1568"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=422453"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/422453\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/511746"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=422453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=422453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=422453"},{"taxonomy":"location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/location?post=422453"},{"taxonomy":"article_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article_type?post=422453"},{"taxonomy":"serie","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/serie?post=422453"},{"taxonomy":"archives","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/archives?post=422453"},{"taxonomy":"internal_archives","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/internal_archives?post=422453"},{"taxonomy":"reboot-archive","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/reboot-archive?post=422453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}