A new report by Tematys has confirmed the vital role photonics plays in innovation. Assessing 794 Horizon 2020 projects from 2014 to April 2019 for their photonics content, Tematys has demonstrated the enormous impact on innovation photonics is having in important sectors, like Automotive, Agro-food, Security & Defense, and Biomedical industries.
Highlighting the impact photonics has on mega markets and application areas, the survey shows light technologies are now an inextricable part of Personalised Healthcare, Industry 4.0., Smart Farming, and Secure Digital Society.
Tematys examined projects funded in part by the EU and private enterprises where: photonics played a major role or where photonics was a technology enabler.
Photonics21 Executive Board member Professor Roberta Ramponi said: “The results of the survey have confirmed our belief that photonics is an indispensable technology vital to innovation in most end-user markets.”
“At an estimated €90 Billion per annum, the European Photonics market continues to support making Europe’s economy more competitive, and is essential to global market growth.”
“Things that matter to everyday users in industries like healthcare or producing clean food from farm to fork are all benefitting from the rapid, accurate and non-invasive manner in which light can detect and measure. It is quite clear to see the enormous impacts on innovation light technologies are having.”
“While these technologies will create new jobs over the next three years in the photonics sector alone as a direct result of our PPP projects, most megamarkets will benefit from the creation of new high-tech jobs in their respective fields from photonics,” Professor Ramponi said.
Thierry Robin from Tematys said: “Our analysis shows photonics technologies are crucial to new Industry 4.0 applications like the Internet of Things (IoT), Factories of the Future (FoF), Smart Cities, Autonomous Vehicles, and to the need for next-generation biosensors, secure communications, LEDs for smart lighting, and quantum technology.”
“Beyond their use in numerous other projects, these exclusive photonics projects are very important because they prepare the introduction of light technologies in application sectors,” Robin said.
From 2014 to 2018, the European Commission committed over €445 million to photonics projects in Horizon 2020, which are comprised of 1017 participants, 275 of which are SMEs and 281 big companies.
For more information, visit: www.photonics21.org
