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Minute stakes

Tuesday, 26 February 2008

EU invests billions in nanoelectronics and microcomputers…

The EU has formally launched two Joint Technology Initiatives (JTIs), together valued at €5.5bn, to boost the region’s clout in nanoelectronics and microcomputers.

€3bn will be invested in nanoelectronics following the launch of the ENIAC JTI, a new public-private partnership. "Today, it is the smallest technologies that are taking the largest leaps forward, and our industries must do the same", said EU Commissioner for Information Society and Media Viviane Reding (aka Viv the Impaler). "The possibilities offered by nanoelectronics are only limited by our imagination. They underpin all aspects of everyday devices and so concern everyone in Europe. ENIAC which has a budget of €3bn over 10 years is a concrete way to ensure that such a key industrial sector continues its strong economic growth, right here in Europe.” It is only thanks to the support received for ENIAC from the European Parliament and from the Council that we can launch this new research initiative today".

According to EU estimates Europe's semiconductor industry is worth around €200bn today, and drives a €800bn electronic systems market. Estimates indicate 8 to 10% annual growth in this sector in the coming years, three times more than overall regional economic growth. The organization reckons the €3bn investment in ENIAC in the coming 10 years represents a substantial boost to the longer-term developments based on nanoelectronics, which will largely supersede the current generation of microelectronic devices within the same time period.

In the second JTI – called ARTEMIS – an investment of €2.5bn addresses embedded microcomputer systems that improve the performance of all kinds of machines: from cars, planes and phones, to factories, washing machines and televisions. "Invisible computers embedded in all devices of industrial application can have a tremendously positive impact on Europe's economy", commented Reding. "More and more, useful applications affecting the daily life of consumers rely on such embedded systems, whether in credit cards or in cars.”

The EU reckons that 98% of computing devices are embedded in all kinds of electronic equipment and machines, and points out that computers are now present in everyday devices like mobile phones, credit cards, cars and planes or places like homes, offices and factories. Apparently over 4bn embedded processors were sold last year and the global market is worth €60bn, with annual growth rates of 14%. The EU cites predictions that there will be more than 16bn embedded devices by 2010 and over 40bn by 2020. This is the commercial opportunity to be addressed by the €2.5bn of research invested during the next 10 years. In the meantime, says the EU, the share of embedded systems in the value of final products is expected to continue to rise in key industrial sectors. Taking the example of a car, by 2010 over 35% of its value will be attributable to embedded electronics.

In the EU mindset minute is clearly the new massive.
John Williamson