Photonics Driving Economic Growth in Europe - Photonics21
Photonics Driving Economic Growth in Europe - Photonics21
Photonics Driving Economic Growth in Europe - Photonics21
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0. Executive Summary<br />
environment, and light<strong>in</strong>g. The emphasis will<br />
be on broader cooperation across the whole<br />
research and <strong>in</strong>novation value cha<strong>in</strong> and the<br />
close <strong>in</strong>volvement of end-users, <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g<br />
citizen groups where appropriate.<br />
n Disruptive technology breakthrough<br />
advances <strong>in</strong> nanophotonics, quantum <strong>in</strong>-<br />
formation, extreme light sources, etc., will<br />
be pursued, complement<strong>in</strong>g the roadmap-<br />
based research, and br<strong>in</strong>g<strong>in</strong>g the potential<br />
for disruptive <strong>in</strong>novation <strong>in</strong> support of future<br />
<strong>Europe</strong>an leadership.<br />
n Demonstration<br />
Specific deployment programmes us<strong>in</strong>g pho-<br />
tonic <strong>in</strong>novations will be needed to demonstrate<br />
social <strong>in</strong>novation and leverage EU <strong>in</strong>frastruc-<br />
ture to create jobs. Such <strong>in</strong>frastructural projects<br />
could provide benefits to all 500 million people<br />
<strong>in</strong> the EU, and not solely to those directly <strong>in</strong>-<br />
volved <strong>in</strong> the photonics <strong>in</strong>dustry. Deployment<br />
programmes would be focused on life cycle<br />
and applications.<br />
In this way, coord<strong>in</strong>ated market pull/push<br />
measures will seed and then accelerate market<br />
penetration, ultimately lead<strong>in</strong>g to wider technology<br />
adoption and consequent job creation.<br />
Measures would <strong>in</strong>clude the launch of highvisibility,<br />
demonstration projects that provide the<br />
<strong>Europe</strong>an photonics <strong>in</strong>dustry with a first-mover<br />
advantage <strong>in</strong> the global market.<br />
n <strong>Photonics</strong> Manufactur<strong>in</strong>g Platforms<br />
Underp<strong>in</strong>n<strong>in</strong>g all the proposed activities is the<br />
objective of grow<strong>in</strong>g photonics manufactur<strong>in</strong>g<br />
<strong>in</strong> <strong>Europe</strong> and creat<strong>in</strong>g further high skill employment.<br />
This will be achieved at two levels;<br />
enabl<strong>in</strong>g the photonics products themselves<br />
to be manufactured <strong>in</strong> <strong>Europe</strong>, and ensur<strong>in</strong>g<br />
that other key manufactur<strong>in</strong>g sectors <strong>in</strong> <strong>Europe</strong>,<br />
dependant on photonics technology, can rema<strong>in</strong><br />
competitive. To this end the follow<strong>in</strong>g measures<br />
would be implemented:<br />
n Improvement of the <strong>in</strong>frastructure for photonics<br />
manufactur<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> <strong>Europe</strong>. This <strong>in</strong>volves<br />
mak<strong>in</strong>g full use of the exist<strong>in</strong>g manufactur<strong>in</strong>g<br />
excellence of research <strong>in</strong>stitutes for support<strong>in</strong>g<br />
<strong>in</strong>dustry, especially <strong>in</strong>novative SMEs. The<br />
creation of such generic photonic foundries,<br />
based on public-private partnership, will<br />
enable cost-effective and widespread deployment<br />
of photonics technology <strong>in</strong> numerous<br />
applications, and ultimately lead to volume<br />
production.<br />
n Establishment of pilot production facilities,<br />
<strong>in</strong> which <strong>in</strong>dustry and research <strong>in</strong>stitutes can<br />
jo<strong>in</strong>tly develop <strong>in</strong>novative photonics production<br />
processes, target<strong>in</strong>g applications<br />
relevant to societal challenges and economic<br />
growth.<br />
S<strong>in</strong>ce the value cha<strong>in</strong>s <strong>in</strong> specific photonics application<br />
areas <strong>in</strong> <strong>Europe</strong> are fragmented across different<br />
member states, demonstration activities and<br />
manufactur<strong>in</strong>g platforms are expected to re<strong>in</strong>force<br />
the <strong>in</strong>novation ecosystems at local (smart specialisation)<br />
and <strong>Europe</strong>an levels.<br />
n Innovative photonics SMEs<br />
SMEs lie at the very heart of the <strong>Europe</strong>an photonics<br />
<strong>in</strong>dustry, and play a major role <strong>in</strong> driv<strong>in</strong>g<br />
<strong>in</strong>novation and economic growth. It is essential<br />
for the future prosperity of the <strong>Europe</strong>an<br />
photonics <strong>in</strong>dustry, and thereby of <strong>Europe</strong>an<br />
society, that their competitiveness <strong>in</strong> the global<br />
market is susta<strong>in</strong>ed and grown further. Take-up<br />
of and RDI support for <strong>in</strong>novative photonics<br />
technologies through ‘light touch’ open<br />
schemes will be promoted. The emphasis will<br />
be on strengthen<strong>in</strong>g the competitiveness of<br />
<strong>Europe</strong>an SMEs, and on the creation of new<br />
bus<strong>in</strong>ess opportunities.<br />
To this end, a fast-track fund<strong>in</strong>g vehicle for photonics<br />
SMEs is envisaged with<strong>in</strong> the <strong>Photonics</strong><br />
PPP. Further synergies with regional <strong>in</strong>novation<br />
clusters will be established to promote SME<br />
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