Electronics
The electronics market place
Electronics is a major contributor to the economy through its design, manufacture, assembly, distribution and support, but also through its effective utilisation. It enables every labour saving device, drives the development of high-speed communications and information processing, is an essential enabler in transportation and aviation, and is transforming entertainment and business today. It plays a major role in addressing societal challenges on health, security, energy management and climate change.
The global electronics market has an estimated value of $2 trillion each year. Semiconductors account for $275bn revenue worldwide, with annual growth forecast of between 6% and 8%. In the UK, over 250,000 people are involved in the design, production and distribution of electronic products, working in 11,000 companies.
UK Electronics Alliance (UKEA)
The UKEA is a consortium of leading UK trade associations for the electronics sector, whose primary purpose is to assist and coordinate discussion on cross cutting issues across the sector and, where appropriate, coordinate action on behalf of the sector including acting as a two way communication channel between the sector and Government departments and agencies.
UKEA members have a combined membership of over 1,500 UK companies of which over 1,200 are SMEs and a ‘reach’ of nearly 7,000 UK companies.
Recent areas of activity for the UKEA include high level skills and training, counterfeiting of electronic components, regulatory issues such as WEEE and RoHS and support for exporters.
Regulation
One of the recommendations from the Electronics Innovation Growth Team was that we should set up a cross Government/industry group to ensure that the legitimate interests of this sector were taken into account in the development of relevant regulation. In response, we set up the “Electronics Regulatory Group” (ERG) which now meets on a quarterly basis.
The ERG has - and continues to - look at the following regulatory initiatives (but not exclusively):
- The Energy-Using Products (EuP) Directive, and the Market Transformation Programme (MTP)
- Registration, Evaluation, and Authorisation of Chemical Regulation (REACH)
- The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive
- The Restriction of the use of certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment (RoHS) Directive
- Other International RoHS legislation (mainly China RoHS & Korea RoHS).
- The Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) Directive.
- The EU Climate Change Package (EU Emission Trading Scheme and Carbon Reduction Commitment).
The photonics market place
Photonics is the transmission and manipulation of information and energy in the form of light (photons) rather than electricity. The application of photonic technologies can enhance the performance of a wide range of products across industries as diverse as transport, security communications, healthcare and energy.
The global market for systems dependent on photonics is already worth over £150 billion. It is difficult to determine the number and nature of photonics companies within the UK, but analysis (Photonics: A UK strategy for success) indicates that there are between 1,500 to 3,400 (mainly small) companies, with a combined annual turnover of over £20 billion.
The Photonics Strategy Group (PSG), made up of representatives from Government, academia & industry, was established to:
- Examine the UK photonics industry sector
- Identify opportunities and challenges for the UK over the next 5 to 10 years
- Develop an action plan for Government and industry to exploit the sector
The Photonics Leadership Group (PLG)
The aims and objectives of the PLG are to:
- Provide a forum for senior industry and academic representatives to meet to identify the opportunities for - and constraints upon - the growth of the UK’s photonics sector
- Direct the implementation of the recommendations identified in the UK Photonics Strategy report
- Work with relevant Knowledge Transfer Networks (particularly the Photonics and Displays & Lighting KTNs) to implement a coherent strategy for UK photonics
- Work with Government to raise the profile of photonics and encourage its inclusion within the Regional Economic Strategies of Regional Development Agencies / Devolved Administrations
- Influence the development of photonics research strategies of the UK Government, the UK research base, industry, and the European Commission
- Provide input on photonics skills requirements via SEMTA (Science Engineering Manufacturing Technology Alliance)
- Identify photonics ‘grand challenges’ in conjunction with relevant funding bodies.
