Today another look at one of the big research areas the EU is investing in ? micro- and nano-electronics.
Not so long ago, the earliest computers weighed tons, and filled an entire room. When you look at the difference between those behemoths and today?s gadgets ? quite a lot of those changes are thanks to advances in chip technology. Some time ago Moore?s Law predicted that chips would double in performance every couple of years; nearly 50 years after that, it?s still holding true. And that?s the exponential growth that means the smartphone in your pocket probably has as much power as the whole of NASA did fifty years ago.
I think those changes could carry on in future. Ever smaller, more sophisticated semiconductor technology could mean not just new gadgets: but new applications in all kinds of areas. Like medicine ? imagine an electronic pill you can swallow that diagnoses and cures disease, and that?s only the start!
Overall, developments in electronics aren?t just good for the sector itself ? they enable changes in every other sector. That?s why we call it (and a few other sectors, too) a ?Key Enabling Technology?.
What?s the European role in all this?
Well, we have a lot of the people and companies that will demand new innovations in electronics. Whether it?s people demanding new health applications; the Internet of Things promising to connect up everything from your fridge to your spectacles; or sectors from transport to television that could benefit from a productivity boost provided by electronics.
And add that to an ever greater younger generation chasing ever fewer jobs, several centres of electronics excellence dotted across Europe, and a world-class academic and research community and to me the answer?s a no-brainer : why shouldn?t we pool our expertise to ensure that Europe is a big global player?
We?ve already proposed significant EU research funds for micro- and nano-electronics, benefiting (alongside photonics) from a proposed 1.8 billion euro boost. Now I want to explore with the industry whether we could go further, cut the current fragmented landscape, connect up all the players along the value chain, from design to production equipment to production itself, and make Europe a global powerhouse for electronics.
I don?t know exactly what tomorrow?s chip advances will look like; maybe no-one does, things are moving so quickly. But I?m pretty sure that tomorrow?s technology will quickly turn today?s cutting edge into a museum piece. Electronics advances can definitely benefit our economy ? and maybe they?ll come with a ?made in Europe? sticker, too.
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