OLAE Industrial Governance Board
Building a Strategic Research Agenda for the future of Organic & Large Area Electronics in Europe
The European Commission asked the industry to formulate a Strategic Research Agenda (SRA) for the future of Organic & Large Area Electronics (OLAE). The coordinated action [CA] project OPERA has invited OE-A (Organic Electronics Association), the European Technology Platforms Photonics21 and EPOSS to jointly formulate this SRA . A first draft of the OLAE SRA will be presented to and discussed with the Commission in Brussels, June 15 2009. The SRA is a major input for the definition of the "Flexible, organic and large area electronics" objective within the Information and Communication Technologies 2011 – 2013 workprogramme . The OLAE industry itself, together with organizations representing the other European OLAE stakeholders [such as university research groups, public authorities, etc.], must decide how it wishes to get organized and how it wishes to work towards a full-fledged research agenda supported by a majority of key European stakeholders in the field.
For your information.
OLAE is an emerging technology, which deals with electronic components and systems based on new organic and inorganic functional materials. Through its very broad range of applications, OLAE will influence and affect many established industries and will revolutionize existing value chains. Coinciding with a long term trend in traditional silicon-based electronics towards lower price/performance ratio’s [More Moore], OLAE will stimulate innovation processes within the CMOS industry itself. It will also extend the scope and range of electronics to industries where ‘intelligence’ [information technology] was absent so far as a key-driver in creating new value propositions, such as in packaging, consumer goods, textiles, etc. Additional value and jobs will be created in a variety of participating industries, with no legacy in electronics.
According to recent market forecasts the revenues for printed electronics [organics, in-organics and composites] will rise from .92 Bn in 2009 to $ 57.16 in 2019. Manufacturers of electronic devices are expected to change to´post silicon´transistor technology, using thin film of both organic and inorganic compounds, and more and more printing, because of a greater output, larger areas and lower total cost of ownership [TCO] [IDTechEX’09].
Europe is generally considered to hold key positions in OLAE with respect to materials and processing technology. European vendors of materials, purpose built tooling and process integration are key drivers in this emerging field. But the world-wide landscape in OLAE is evolving rapidly, with world class competitors appearing in every application area.
European OLAE stakeholders decided to get organized, to address the value chain and to investigate the opportunities of manufacturing added value OLAE products and services in Europe. So a special industry interest group was initiated, supported by the OE-A, the European Technology Platforms Photonics21, EPoSS, the European Commission/DG Information Society & Media and the FP7 project OPERA.
The group decided to launch the interest group under the name “OLAE Industry Governance Board”. Initial step of this board would be to formulate a long term oriented research agenda [SRA] for the sector, based on the input of the vision paper “The Future of OLAE in Europe” developed within the OPERA framework and the “Organic Electronics” white paper developed by the OE-A. The group got organised into task forces focussing on short, mid and long-term R&D targets in topic areas, such as Displays, Lighting, Electronics, Organic Photovoltaics and Integrated Smart Systems. The board is to submit and to discuss a first draft of the OLAE strategic research agenda on June 15, 2009 with representatives of the Commission in Brussels.
For more information about the OLAE Industry Governance Board, please contact :
Dr. Thomas Geelhaar, thomas.geelhaar@merck.de
Mr. Ed van den Kieboom, ed.vandenkieboom@plastic-electronics.org