• Published on 10 Jul 2013
• External News

Time to ECSEL

The Industry Associations representing the major stakeholders in the fields of nanoelectronics (AENEAS), embedded systems (ARTEMIS-IA) and smart systems (EPoSS) welcome and support the proposal of the European Commission to form, under the umbrella of Horizon 2020, a new Public Private Partnership with industry and Member States encompassing a total proposed activity of close to €5 billion over seven years. The technology areas of nanoelectronics, embedded/cyberphysical systems and smart systems are strongly interconnected and converge in many high-tech application areas/domains that address the main societal challenges of Europe. 

Contributing 50% of the budget of the research and innovation programme of the new Joint Undertaking on Electronic Components and Systems for European Leadership (ECSEL), industry will play a major role by proposing innovative projects that include pilot lines and large-scale demonstrators. The main objective of the work accomplished through ESCEL will be to accentuate the attractiveness of Europe for the high-tech industry and to contribute to the development of new technologies and applications that address tomorrow’s main societal challenges.

“The ECSEL proposal presented today is the result of a concerted effort made by industry and the public authorities to create a new programme that builds on lessons learned, one that looks towards the future needs of our society and that reinforces the continued prosperity of Europe,” explains Jan Lohstroh, Secretary General of ARTEMIS-IA.

ECSEL will be a second generation Joint Undertaking that will build upon both the current ENIAC (nanoelectronics) and ARTEMIS (embedded computing systems) Joint Undertakings that will conclude at the end of 2013. In the period 2008-2013, ENIAC and ARTEMIS will have supported about 120 projects for total activity expenditure close to €3.8 billion (including an estimation for the calls 2013), involving more than 1000 organisations of which around 40% are SMEs. 

Of notable importance, ECSEL will also include smart systems (EPoSS), thus combining three technology areas and resulting in a complete and complementary project portfolio, which fits into a single European strategy covering the entire value and innovation chain of the electronic components and systems sector.

The new Public Private Partnership ECSEL will have three major advantages compared to the present situation: it will enhance the coordination of industry’s research, development and innovation (R&D&I) efforts, it will strengthen industry positions by forming a strong group that will act with a concerted approach, and it will lead to efficiency gains in management by putting three programmes under one administrative roof.  Wolfgang Gessner, Head of the EPoSS Office, is looking forward to this new initiative, commenting, “I can say that the EPoSS community is eagerly awaiting the opportunity to contribute to the ECSEL programme by taking R&D&I in the smart systems area to the next level.”

The Industry Associations that will participate in the new ECSEL Joint Undertaking see the research and innovation programme as an important step towards securing the future of electronics in Europe.

“ECSEL will be instrumental in mobilising the efforts required by industry, the European Commission and the Member States to maintain Europe’s leadership in this important domain,” Marcel Annegarn, Director General of AENEAS, adds. “To achieve this, the industrial partners express ambitions that go beyond the abovementioned €5 billion and encourage the extension of the partnership beyond ECSEL.”

The proposal of the European Commission for ECSEL will be submitted to the European Parliament and European Council for comments and adoption respectively. The aim is adoption completed at the end of this year. The launch of the first call for project proposals is planned for the beginning of 2014 and the first projects of the ECSEL programme are expected to start as soon as possible thereafter.

Note for the editor | About AENEAS, ARTEMIS-IA and EPoSS

AENEAS

AENEAS (Association for European Nanoelectronics Activities) is a non-profit association established in 2006. It federates the European R&D actors in the field of nanoelectronics including Large Companies, Small and Medium Enterprises, Institutes and Universities. 

AENEAS represents the R&D actors in the ENIAC Joint Undertaking, contributing to two thirds of its operational budget. The ENIAC Joint Undertaking is a key instrument funding European R&D activities in nanoelectronics.

For more information, see : www.aeneas-office.eu
 

ARTEMIS-IA

ARTEMIS-IA (ARTEMIS Industry Association) is an in Industry Association under Dutch law for European R&D&I actors in embedded and cyberphysical systems, to support the ARTEMIS Joint Undertaking (JU). The ARTEMIS JU programme is the first of its kind to bring private-sector research actors together with the European Commission and a large number of contributing Member States. Its current purpose is to continue the ARTEMIS European Technology Platform and being the private member of the ARTEMIS-JU (ARTEMIS Joint Undertaking).

ARTEMIS-IA creates the meeting place where key industry players and other R&D actors identify topics for major R&D&I projects that they want to pursue together, form consortia and initiate project proposals for joint collaboration. It represents an influential network of organisations focused on the innovation and development of embedded systems in Europe.

ARTEMIS-IA has 198 members, being Large Enterprises, Small and Medium Enterprises, Institutes and Universities.

For more information, see : www.artemis-ia.eu
 

EPoSS

EPoSS, the European Platform on Smart Systems Integration, is representing the European smart systems community. EPoSS is addressing intelligent systems and subsystems with complex functionalities. They are as small as possible, networked and sometimes energy autonomous providing solutions for medical applications, sustainable mobility, manufacturing, communication and ambient intelligence. 

EPoSS will become an industry association in September 2013 for the purpose to continue and to strengthen the ETP activities for smart systems, and to become one of the private members of the ECSEL Joint Undertaking.

EPoSS has 78 members, being Large Enterprises, Small and Medium Enterprises, Institutes and Universities.

For more information, see : www.smart-systems-integration.org/public