Photonics - a great example of EU research in action - Hoofdinhoud

Maybe you haven’t heard of Photonics? Or maybe you just think it’s something they might use to kill the bad guys in Star Trek? In fact, it’s not just real, it’s an incredibly important field of technology.

In manufacturing, for example, lasers can create new processes that lead to extraordinary high quality: faster, more accurate “zero fault” production, and products that are lighter or easier to customise.

In healthcare, photonics sensors could allow very early and very accurate detection of diseases like cancer: sometimes even before there are any symptoms. And that could ultimately mean treatment that is both more effective and less invasive.

And photonics technology can also be used in lighting for the home, office or street: lighting that is easier to operate and control, more pleasant, and consuming less energy.

Indeed the benefits of so-called “solid state lighting” are so important that we’ve just consulted on the best way to stimulate this market in the EU. I am also looking at the offer to get better lighting into my office. And to show just what it can do, for example to policy makers passing through Brussels, we’re looking to use solid state lighting to light up the European Commission HQ in Brussels as a demonstration.

What’s more, this is an area where Europe is strong and leads in many key sectors: the EU supplies about 21% of the global market worth around €300 billion. And it’s not just about big business either - there are around 5000 European small- and medium-sized companies active in photonics.

No wonder Photonics has been identified as one of the “Key Enabling Technologies“ within our proposal for the future of EU research funding.

It was my great pleasure to meet some of the representatives of the industry today and outline again why their work is so important. Over the last year, they’ve been responding very actively and constructively to my call to have an ambitious public-private partnership in photonics that really delivers opportunities, growth and jobs for Europe. And now I hope that we will be able to launch this next year. They also told me about some of the great initiatives going on to bring photonics to Europe’s schools - like EYEST.

Continuing this investment in photonics technology - including launching this PPP - is just one of the things that would be possible once the European Parliament and Council agree on our proposals for Horizon 2020, the future of EU research funding. So I’ll be continuing to work with them to ensure that we can indeed safeguard European research and innovation in this and other areas over the next funding period.