Silicon Saxony Activities
8. Silicon Saxony Day
An auspicious view of future technologies
24. Juni 2013, Dresden
The "Internet of things" is basis for future issues in the course of the merging of digital and real world: Sensors and chips automatically optimize traffic flow, industrial processes are automated efficiently, data are channelled and prepared fast-paced. Microelectronics provides solutions here across industries: Mobility, logistics, security, power supply and health care. For that reason, this year's Silicon Saxony Day on 24 June 2013 took part under the motto "Silicon Saxony 4.0 – Smart Factory, Smart City, Smart Cluster".
The symposium brought together about 400 entrepreneurs, leading scientists and researchers from the sectors micro and nanoelectronics, software, photovoltaics, Life Science, automotive and communication in the Akademiehotel Dresden. At the convention future issues and challenges to come were discussed in their interplay with a smart networking of real and virtual technology and product worlds. For years now the Silicon Saxony Day has belonged to the most significant network events in the technology sector. The event also hosted representatives from European high-tech locations as Grenoble, Leuven and Eindhoven.
Following the symposium's motto, the first part of the convention offered three different specialist fora around the topics Smart Factory, Smart City as well as Cool Silicon as a Smart Cluster.Within the scope of the forum Smart Factory the experts pointed out the challenges of the "Factory of future" and discussed the expectations involved. Presentations hereto illustrated the special demand for Smart Factory solutions in the manufacture of semiconductors. At the same time it became obvious that the major components for its realization and implementation are already at hand in Silicon Saxony. Robots act increasingly independently. Moreover, operating and monitoring terminals for analyzing issues of product quality and process optimization in the semiconductor manufacture are not going to be reduced to stationary computers any longer but will be retrievable from any place in the factory on state-of-the-art tablets.The specialist forum Smart City impressively substantiated cyber-physical cities of the future to offer a variety of digital applications. In the fields of energy management, traffic planning, living and working as well as in the optimization of
administrative proceedings in particular smart technologies provide reasonable infrastructures and ensure a high living standard at the same time.
The leading edge cluster Cool Silicon set an outstanding example for the topic of Smart Cluster. In various presentations speakers revealed significant research results on the way to improved energy efficient ICTs – for semiconductors as well as in the fields of communication technology, sensors and software. Thus, they elucidated the potential arising from the bundling of competences of individual cluster partners.
Aside from the workshops, representatives from politics, industry and science engaged in a more detailed discussion of the event's three major issues in a plenary session as the second part of the Silicon Saxony Day, especially in view of the global competitiveness of the location. Giving a speech there, Dr. Stephan Meyer, member of the state parliament and chairman for technology and innovation politics of the CDU in the Saxon state parliament, put the results of the Enquete-commission of the Saxon parliament into focus which has intensely been dealing with the technology advancement. As a result of this, technology transfer and start ups will be granted more incentives, research and development will be pushed by tax incentives. Thus, the innovative power of the Free State of Saxony can be ensured. Dr. Thomas Christensen from the Danish Ministry of Science emphasized the essential role of clusters as an impetus for growth and innovation. Moreover, Prof. Michael Liehr from the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering at the University in Albany, New York, spoke about current developments in the field of 450 mm.As Heinz Martin Esser, head of Silicon Saxony concluded: "This year's Silicon Saxony Day has once more underlined the significance of engaging in a dialogue with researchers, entrepreneurs, politicians and representatives of regional administrative bodies.Only thus we are able to pick up the strong impulses arising from dealing with the given future issues and the challenges and chances for the business location resulting from it. It is of major importance for us to emphasize and link the potential of all protagonists in Silicon Saxony even more strongly in order to maintain our position on the international, highly competitive market."