The FINANCIAL — An unprecedented € 3 billion will be invested in nanoelectronics, with the launch last week of a major Joint Technology Initiative (JTI) endorsed by the Council of Ministers and by the European Parliament at the end of 2007.
This initiative, called ENIAC, is a new public-private partnership which targets nanoelectronics, the technology that enables increasingly high levels of miniaturisation in the myriad of applications and high-tech products which are emerging today.
"Today, it is the smallest technologies that are taking the largest leaps forward, and our industries must do the same", said Viviane Reding, EU Commissioner for Information Society and Media. "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 € 3 billion 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".
The smallest thing your eye can see might be a strand of hair or a silk fibre. If you try to imagine something a thousand times smaller, you've reached the mysterious realm of the nanoworld where billions of electronic devices can be made at molecular level, e.g. in the space of just a few square millimetres. When combined with powerful and reliable software, these miniature electronic devices can deliver new features and services for improving our daily lives. Such nanoelectronics and computing technologies trigger and serve innovation in many industrial and socio-economic sectors including telecommunications, transport, consumer goods, manufacturing, healthcare and energy. For example, a car today has anything between fifty and a hundred electronic chips which control the engine, steering, braking, stability, dashboard, entertainment system, navigation and more. This has led to reductions in fuel consumption and improved safety for occupants. In the future, we can expect further reduction in emissions with computer-controlled hybrid engines and collision avoidance for pedestrians and other vehicles.
Europe's semiconductor industry is worth around € 200 billion today, and drives a € 800 billion electronic systems market. Estimates indicate 8-10 % annual growth in this sector in the coming years, three times more than overall economic growth. The € 3 billion 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.
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