rok silicon europe_january 2012

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Develping a Leading-Edge Eurpean Micr- and

Nanelectrnics Cluster r Energy Efcient ICT

SILICoNEuropE

www.silicn-eurpe.rg

DresdenEindhoven

Leuven

Grenoble

Executive Summary

Theme: Regions of Knowledge[FP7-REGIONS-2012-2013-1]

Jaunary 2012


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Silicon Europe Summary

1. Concept and Objectives

Four of the leading European micro- and nanoelectronics regions are joining their research,

development and production expertise to form the transnational, research-driven cluster Silicon

Europe The Leaders for Energy Efficient ICT Electronics. The cluster partners include fournational consortia that all have established structures for the close cooperation of research,business and the authorities, thus fullfilling the requirements of a triple helix consortium.These high-potential mature clusters are Silicon Saxony, centred around Dresden (Germany),Point-One, centred around Eindhoven (Netherlands), Minalogic, centred around Grenoble

(France), and DSP Valley, centred around Leuven (Belgium).The partners of Silicon Europe are linked by a common goal: They are focussed on securingEurope its postion as the worlds leading centre for energy efficient electronics. While aimingto reach this main goal, Silicon Europe will make substantial contributions toward realizing

several partial goals that will be of paramount importance for Europes future economy (regardingEuropes competitiveness), science (regarding the securing of know-how for the manufacturing ofKET

1-relevant technologies) and society (regarding solutions for global mega trends

2).

Strong partners for a common goal

The partner clusters in total have nearly 800 members (297 in Silicon Saxony, 204 in Minalogic,170 in Point-One, 75 in DSP Valley), more than 75% of which are SMEs. They count for more

than 150,000 jobs, thereby covering more than 60% of the respective jobs in Europe. Highlyrelevant research players such as imec (BE), CEA-Leti (F) and Fraunhofer (D) as well as largecompanies such as Philips, NXP, Globalfoundries, Infineon, STMicroelectronics and Thales are

active in the partner clusters. The established local cluster structures are close. In Dresden, allrespective partners are represented formally by Silicon Saxony (partner 1), for the other regionsthe local/regional authorities became full partners as the respective clusterorganizations coverresearch and business only. In total, there are 10 legal entities involved in the project. All playersare strongly committed to Silicon Europe.

1The European Commission defines Key Enabling Technologies (KETs) as those that will be the main driving force forthe economic and social development of the European Union, e.g. micro- and nanoelectronics.

2mega trend: large scale, sustainable trend triggering major changes in society and technology, e.g. the agingEuropean society, energy efficiency, sustainability. See also ch. 4.


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Transnational Collaboration for a Strong Silicon Europe

The objectives of Silicon Europe are closely connected to the agenda of the European Union and

significantly contribute to its programs. For example, by intensifying the transnationalcolloboration between regional research-oriented competence clusters, Silicon Europe will makea substantial contribution to the EUs growth strategy for the coming decade, Europe 2020.

Europe 2020s focus lies on the advancement of research and development. This includes thedevelopment of environmentally friendly technologies as well as activities to secure consistenteconomic growth. By joing their forces, the Silicon Europe partners will also contribute to a

number of sub-programms to Europe 2020, the so-called flagship initiatives.- A Digital Agenda for Europe seeks to speed up the roll out of high-speed internet and to

reap the benefits of a digital single market for households and firms. Advanced micro- andnanoelectronics play a significant role in reaching these goals.

- A Resource Efficient Europe is designed to help decouple economic growth from theuse of resources, by decarbonising the economy, increasing the usie of renewablesources, modernising the transport, and promoting energy efficiency. Silicon Europe

partners are already committed to the increase of energy efficiency in micro- andnanoelectronics.

In addition to these central contribution, Silicon Europes results will also have a positive effect on

other flagship initiatives: An Industrial Policy for the Globalisation Era wants to improve thebusiness environment, especially for SMEs, and to support the development of a strong,sustainable industrial base able to compete globally. An Agenda for New Skills and Jobs wantsto modernise the labour market. Silicon Europe will strengthen the European micro- andnanoelectronics sector, thus defending its global position and also creating new and secureexisting jobs.

Silicon Europe focusses on the following specific objectives:1) Promotion of micro- and nanoelectronics as Key Enabling Technology for the

traditional industry, unlocking new solutions for the major societal challenge on energy

efficiency. This promotion will be supported by the development of a new communicationconcept on the strategic importance of micro- and nanoelectronics.

2) Securing European know-how for Europe: Using inter-cluster synergies andcomplementarities

a. with research institutes and universities, for access to the newest technologiesand to highly qualified competencies and staff,

b. with fabless design houses for the development of new functionalities and/orarchitectures for the micro- and nanoelectronics,

c. and with value adding system integrators for the market valorisation.

3) Opening up new markets and boosting competitiveness especialy of SMEs byimproving innovation and technology transfer from research to market, and by developing

an internationalization strategy inside and outside Europe, supported by the creation of acommon identity for a (virtual) European semiconductor cluster.

2. The Challenge of Silicon Europe The Need for Resource and Energy

Efficiency

The world faces a huge challenge: Due to the emergence of developing and transitioningcountries - particularly China and India - and the resulting rise in living standards of the

population, world energy demand is dramatically increasing. By 2030, an increase by 50% to160500 bn kWh is forecasted, and there will be another doubling to 321,000 bn kWh by 2050.

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There are several approaches to address this challenge, and considerable achievements havebeen made already. For instance, in the field of energy efficiency, the first nine measures underthe Ecodesign Directive

4are expected to reduce power consumption by some 340 bn kWh by

3Shell Energy Scenarios to 2050, 2011 Shell International BV,http://www-static.shell.com/static/aboutshell/downloads/aboutshell/signals_signposts.pdf

4The Ecodesign Directive provides EU-wide rules for improving the environmental performance of energy relatedproducts through ecodesign.


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2020 (i.e. the equivalent of the output of 77 typical power stations)5. Other EU policies, notably

access to financing for energy efficiency under the Cohesion and Structural Funds6, are also

creating positive results. France, for instance, will use available EU funds to reduce energyconsumption by more than 50% per square meter of its building stock.However, the existing efforts are not sufficient. All scenarios within the Energy Roadmap to

20507

show electricity will have to play a much greater role than now (almost doubling its

share in final energy demand to 36-39% by 20508) and will have to contribute to thedecarbonisation of transport and heating/cooling. Electricity could provide around 65% of theenergy demands of passenger cars and light duty vehicles, as shown in all decarbonisationscenarios. Final electricity demand increases even in the high energy efficiency scenario.Consequently, according to the Roadmap, prime focus should remain on energy efficiency.

Therefore, improving energy efficiency is a priority in all decarbonisation scenarios and thus alsoone of the major challenges with regard to the flagship initiative of a resource efficient Europe.

3. Contribution of Micro- and Nanoelectronics to the Solution of the Problem

Micro- and nanoelectronics are the basis for a strong European economy. It is ubiquitous thereis no computer, mobile, appliance or even car without it. Electronic components also contribute toimproving manufacturing processes or to enabling new communication technologies. Thus,

micro- and nanoelectronics are a key driver for innovation for almost all sectors and a KeyEnabling Technology for the vast number of industrial fields and sectors.

As one of the key enabling technologies, micro- and nanoelectronics, includingsemiconductors, are essential for all goods and services which need intelligent control in

sectors as diverse as automotive and transportation, aeronautics and space. Smart industrialcontrol systems permit more efficient management of electricity generation, storage, transportand consumption through intelligent electrical grids and devices

9. Smart control systems are also

5Flagship initiative on a resource efficient Europe, COM(2011)21 final, 26.1.2011; Roadmap to a resource efficient

Europe, COM(2011)571 final, 20.9.2011 http://ec.europa.eu/resource-efficient europe/pdf/resource_efficient_europe_en.pdf

6financial tools set to implement the Regional Policy of the EU

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The EU is committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 80-95% below 1995 levels by 2050. The Roadmapexplores the challenges posed by this object while at the same time ensuring security of energy supply andcompetitiveness.

8http://ec.europa.eu/energy/energy2020/roadmap/doc/com_2011_8852_en.pdf

9http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/sectors/ict/files/communication_key_enabling_technologies_sec1257_en.pdf


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crucial to increasing the efficiency and reducing the unwanted emissions related to the use of

conventional fuels (oil, coal and natural gas) in all its forms and applications.However, the global competition is hard and Europe has a declining share of worldwideinvestments in microelectronics. From a total investment of28bn in microelectronics in 2007,only 10% was made in the EU compared to 48% in Asia. Europes semiconductor market share

has declined from 21% to 16% since 2000. Nonetheless, total direct employment in

microelectronics in Europe is over 110,000 plus 105,000 in equipment manufacturers.Nevertheless, Europe has a number of dedicated regions with critical mass and particularsemiconductor competencies which are globally renowned. These clusters, whichjointly willimplement Silicon Europe, address all application fields and have access to the most advancedtechnologies and are key assets for European industrial competiveness

10.

4. Silicon Europes Impact on Europes Economic and Innovative Strength

By joining technological expertise and resources of Europes leading players in European micro-and nanoelectronics the Silicon Europe cluster will create a new quality of transnational

collaboration. This will enable Europe to become the worlds leading centre for energyefficient electronics while effectively working to counteract increasing energy demand.

Silicon Europes efforts in micro- and nanoelectronics will significantly contribute to Europes

economic and innovative strength both in the short and the long term. In the short term, micro-and nanoelectronics will help traditional industries to open up new markets and their utilisation will

lead to the increase of energy efficiency in all sectors. Furthermore, Silicon Europe completesand strengthens the value chain of Europeans semiconductor eco-system will be a role model forinter-cluster cooperation. Ultimately, the European semiconductor industry will be boosted andthus enabled to take on the Asian and global challenge on the market. Last but not least, theSilicon Europe initiative will raise the awarness of the importance of the European semiconductorindustry in the wider public and authorities.

The capacitiy to generate innovations and successfully transfer them to the market is a key skillfor Europe. This innovative force is decisive for the competitiveness and therefore ultimately forEuropes sustainability. In order to maintain and strengthen Europe, securing the innovative abilitymust be equated with securing the future of Europe. It is a task to look far ahead into the future

and to detect even weak signals in order to identify any resulting changes, to verify the relevanceof these changes and assess them from a strategic viewpoint.

10http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/sectors/ict/files/staff_working_document_sec512_key_enabling_technologies_en.pdf


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Micro- and nanoelectronics have a major impact on and therefore will make a significant

contribution to the successful handling of the mega trends, Europe is confronted with, includinge.g. climate protection, a society that is shifting from industry to knowledge, the globalisation andoptical, energy and environmental technologies. Mostly, the sectors developments and itsfindings regarding energy efficiency are effecting not only the technical disciplines but also the

populations daily life.

5. Associated Work Plan

In order reach the described goals and provide the desired results, the partners of Silicon Europedesigned different work packages and will participate in the initiatives activities according to theirexpertise.


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Silicon Saxony Management GmbHThomas ReppeManfred-von-Ardenne Ring 2001099 DresdenGermany

Email: [email protected].: +49 351 8925800Fax: +49 351 8925801

MINALOGICJean Chabbal3, Parvis Louis NelF-38054 Grenoble Cedex 9France

Email: [email protected].: +33 438 78 1947Fax: +33 438 78 5349

DSP ValleyPeter SimkensGaston Geenslaan3001 Leuven

Belgium

Email: [email protected].: +32 1624 1440Fax: +32 1624 1449

PointOneArjan GelderblomHTC 69 1d5656 AG Eindhoven NL

Email: [email protected].: +31 88 5554333mob +31 6 5160 3446

rok silicon europe_january 2012

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