Photonics21 Annual Meeting 2012 – The European Photonics industry makes its pledge to bridge the valley of death 
Neelie Kroes, European Commission Vice President providing her keynote speech during the Photonics21 Annual Meeting 2012During the Photonics21 Annual Meeting 2012 Neelie Kroes, European Commission Vice President announced her active support towards creating a photonics Public Private Partnership (PPP) within the Horizon 2020 framework together with Photonics21.
“Europe needs to face up to the challenges of a rapidly globalising economy. The photonics sector can unleash massive economic potential and help deliver the Digital Agenda for Europe. EU policies that support research, demonstration, and application are crucial for spurring Europe’s competitiveness. A Public Private Partnership in Photonics, based on a serious commitment from industry, will help to unlock Europe’s innovation potential and bring to market products that will shape our future world and our future economy” said Neelie Kroes.
The Photonics Public Private Partnership would bring Europe a step further towards addressing the economic crisis and closing the divide between scientific excellence and innovative production. The European photonics industry reaffirms its commitment – the strongest amongst all KETs – to 4-fold leverage public support of 1.4 billion towards the creation of a shared account totalling 7 billion Euros. Another significant pledge includes establishing measurable targets for monitoring the success of the PPP, especially on the industry investment in Europe. Photonics21 welcomes the opportunity for a partnership, which would bring the photonics industry on par with the European Commission, ensure long-term investment security over 7 years and significantly impact the European job market with the creation of an additional 70,000 to 100,000 jobs.
Photonics21 Executive Board members Martin Goetzeler and Giorgio Anania and Malcolm Harbour, MEP, & Zoran Stančič, Deputy Director-General of DG INFSO participating in the panel discussionIn a high-ranking panel discussion with representatives from Photonics21, the EU Commission and the European Parliament, MEP Malcolm Harbour expressed his full support for a Photonics PPP: “Photonics are recognised as a critical strategic technology for a modern and technologically advanced Europe. The proposed 7 Billion Euro partnership between Photonics21 and the European Commission would have a substantial impact on future growth and job creation, and significantly assist the EU’s continued economic recovery. It will be a major boost for the Innovation Union".
Photonics21 President Martin GoetzelerMartin Goetzeler, President of Photonics21, highlighted that “Photonics21 welcomes the ambitious Horizon 2020 proposal by the European Commission with its approach for a real innovation focused funding with positive impact on jobs and competitiveness and where Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) would generate a long term budget security for the projects partners.”
Like many other sectors, the potential of the photonics industry is currently limited by the so called “Valley of Death” in the innovation value chain. “Photonics innovation in Europe tends to fall through in the stage between successful science and pilot scale industrial deployments, the latter being the stage at which jobs can start being created”, Martin Goetzeler commented.
He emphasised that in order “to strengthen Europe’s innovation capacity and capture the full benefit of Europe’s industry base, we need to avoid mistakes of the past and ensure the creation of an environment that nurtures innovation and covers the entire value chain, from the breakthrough in research through to the development of products”.
The founding of a Photonics PPP would address these concerns and bring to fruition the recommendations of the KET High Level Group 2011 report, which calls for a clear focus to be placed on KETs. The proposal for the Horizon 2020 framework incorporates those recommendations in its entirety and calls for a strong commitment from all key actors involved to enhance collaboration and ensuring a strong leadership position for Europe.
Further information about the Photonics21 Annual Meeting is available on the Photonics21 website.
First presentations of the event have been published on the Photonics21 website in the section “Downloads”. You can follow the link to the download section here.
The Photonics21 Work Group workshop results have been uploaded into the corresponding workshop folders in the Photonics21 member area. You can access the Photonics21 Member Area via the Photonics21 website www.photonics21.org.
Neelie Kroes, European Commission Vice President, Martin Goetzeler, Christopher Dainty, Elizabeth Rogan (from left to right)
Photonics21 Student Innovation Award Ceremony on the 27 March 2012