7 March 2013

IQE’s CEO Drew Nelson joins EU high-level industry group on key enabling technologies

Epiwafer foundry and substrate maker IQE plc of Cardiff, Wales, UK says that CEO & president Dr Drew Nelson has joined a high-level industry group to advise the European Commission (EC) on the implementation of key enabling technologies (KETs).

The formation of the group was announced by EC vice commissioner Antonio Tajani last week, together with the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the European Investment Bank and the EC to support KETs. Nelson is the only UK representative among the group of 35 industrial leaders from across Europe.

The EC has identified nanotechnology, micro/nanoelectronics, industrial biotechnology, advanced materials, photonics and advanced manufacturing technologies as KETs that are essential for Europe to regain and maintain global leadership in the face of intense competition from Asia and North America.

The impact of KETs cuts across world-leading industries including the automotive, chemicals, aeronautics, space, health and energy sectors, and will form a significant focus for European-funded programs in the coming years. The aim is to enable the European Union (EU) to translate its research and development (R&D) base into the production of goods and services needed to stimulate growth and employment.

“It is highly encouraging that the EC has recognized the global importance of key enabling technologies in shaping the future of Europe in the face of stiff global competition,” says Nelson. “EC initiatives included in ‘Horizon 2020’ aim to bridge the funding gap – often referred to as the ‘valley of death’ – that has held back EU countries from translating excellent R&D expertise into world-leading products and services,” he adds. “I look forward to helping Europe regain a global leading technology position.”

The formation of the high-level industry group follows the formation of a previous high-level expert group on KETs, which ran for a year until end-June 2011 and developed a long-term strategy on how to improve the deployment of KETs at the European level.

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