Collaboration Lauded at Photonics21 Annual Meeting

The European Commission’s (EC) new director of digital industry, Lucilla Sioli, head of the Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology, described the Photonics Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Photonics21 platform as “one of the most outstanding and efficient contractual PPP’s we have ever seen in the commission” at the organization’s annual meeting.

The annual gathering set about defining the challenges that lie ahead in research and innovation for photonics and its applied fields. Keynote speaker Carl Buhr, the EC’s deputy head of cabinet, welcomed more than 300 stakeholders by commencing a series of "ignite talks" to discuss the challenges and opportunities of a digitized world, in which photonics plays a vital role.

Photonics21 is the European Technology Platform (ETP) for photonics, set up in 2005 to bring the community of photonics researchers and industries together. The EC defined photonics as one of six European Key Enabling Technologies in 2009. Shortly after, the European Research & Innovation Program’s Horizon 2020 invited Photonics21 to become a PPP. The Photonics21 Association, a legal entity under Belgium law, became the private contract partner in November 2013 in a PPP in conjunction with the EC.