Strengthening the fabless Start-up and SME ecosystem in Europe (CSA)

Destination 4 ensures Europe’s strategic autonomy while preserving an open economy in those technologies that will be key for a deep digital transformation of industry, public services and society, while fully playing its enabling role in the twin transition. As set out in the European Chips Act, the top-priorities are to i) strengthen processes undertaken at critical stages in the semiconductor and quantum chips value chain, including chip design and manufacturing technologies, and ii) address the use of new materials and green technologies, energy efficiency and the integration of circularity and life-cycle assessment.

Destination 4 will address high value-added hardware needs for core, cloud and edge, fast-sensing, low-latency and high-bandwidth data transmission, and help secure the supply of critical components for key markets, such as automotive, health, automation and mobility systems. For this purpose, significant human capacity will be required in chip manufacturing to ensure: (i) the strengthening of processes undertaken at critical stages in the value chain; and (ii) that workers can take up quality jobs created as part of these priorities, including through the activities undertaken by the joint undertaking initiative.

In addition, future needs in microelectronics (such as performance, size, cost, energy efficiency, environmental impact, new materials, concepts, architectures, integration) may also be addressed to make sure Europe’s microelectronics industry remains competitive. Opportunities may come from non-volatile memories, spintronics, in-memory computing, neuromorphic and other emerging technologies. Photonics research will lead to fast and versatile sensing and imaging, and energy-efficient building blocks for networks and data centres. The cluster will also push for chip-level integration of photonics and optoelectronics.

The cloud/edge/internet of things will be transformed into an agile and situation-aware infrastructure that brings data to where and when it is needed. Within these smart digital infrastructures, end-to-end artificial intelligence, from the core to the edge and across all technology layers, will be key for on-demand supply of optimal data-, communication-, and computing resource orchestration, with optimal use of energy while preserving privacy and ensuring resilience. European sovereignty in the cloud-edge server market will be strengthened through the power of open-source software, complementing the RISC-V based European Processor Initiative that aims to increase Europe’s independence in high performance computing hardware.

Cluster 4 will transform the user experience. It will push the frontiers of virtual and extended realities (VR/XR) and of open, human-centric virtual worlds for industry, entertainment and arts, public services and people alike, e.g. by leveraging social innovation. It envisages a vibrant R&I ecosystem that strategically joins-up research and development on sophisticated VR/XR optics and displays, multimodal human-computer interaction, authoring tools, real-time spatial computing, rendering, integration and application research. Improved sensing, fast processing and low-latency will be challenging for the underlying cloud/edge/Internet of things. Along similar lines, the way in which the virtual world meets the physical world will continue to evolve, thanks to all kinds of robots and other smart devices that involve self- and context awareness, spatial intelligence, exploiting the best in bias-free AI, engineering and design for game-changing physical characteristics, functional or cognitive capabilities, acute perception, autonomy and safe interaction.

Artificial intelligence underpins many of these changes and Cluster 4 will strengthen and consolidate R&I in this area. For example, today’s generative models are a preview of how virtual worlds and multimodal user-experiences could be produced on-demand. Research on core learning and analysis techniques (incremental, frugal and collaborative), as well as next generation smart robotic systems, will keep Europe at the cutting edge of AI. Artificial Intelligence is also key to keep the competitiveness and strategic autonomy of the EU scientific sector. The EU's comprehensive approach to achieving leadership in AI is reflected in its Apply AI Strategy, which aims at establishing Europe as a global leader in the development and adoption of AI. By fostering a vibrant AI ecosystem, the EU seeks to make Europe a hub for AI innovation and growth, where world-class AI models are developed and integrated into strategic sectors. This initiative is designed to drive innovation, economic growth, and competitiveness, while ensuring that the benefits of AI are shared by all. The topics related to Generative AI included in this destination will support the implementation of the GenAI4EU initiative included in the AI Innovation Package of 24 January 2024. They constitute, moreover, an integral part of the broader Apply AI strategy. By aligning these efforts with the GenAI4EU initiative and the Apply AI strategy, the EU aims to create a cohesive and coordinated approach to AI development and adoption, one that promotes European excellence and leadership in this critical field.

Europe’s long-term competitiveness in the digital area requires continuous scouting and early, low-TRL cross-disciplinary work on new and emerging technologies, dissociated from the main roadmaps. This would encourage collaboration in research and cross-fertilisation between disciplines and sectors on new approaches in: (i) microelectronics; (ii) power electronics; (iii) photonics and photon/phonon/spin/electron integration; (iv) unconventional, hybrid, neuromorphic, nature-inspired or bio-intelligent paradigms; and (v) novel systems and infrastructure architectures.

Europe’s strength in quantum technologies (including in quantum communications and optical satellite communications, etc.) is a strategic asset for its future security and independence. Cluster 4 supports early and mature quantum technologies and stimulates their industrial uptake, e.g. through experimentation and testing environments for integrating them into standard industrial design and manufacturing. Equally transformative, two-dimensional materials (2DM) could positively affect many industries, including ICT. While further exploring the vast range of 2DMs, Cluster 4 will also work towards completing a fully European supply chain and scaling up the development and piloting of 2DM technologies and devices for more industrial fields.

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