The new ICT Photonics Coordination and Support Action RESPICE SME started with a kick-off meeting in Karlsruhe, Germany on 18-19th of January, 2016.

Ten European partners from France, Greece, Sweden, Austria, Spain, Ireland, Lithuania, the UK and Germany launched the RespiceSME initiative. The project aims at boosting the innovative power of small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) in optics/photonics and related technologies. Clusters and platforms in the participating countries will be the major players in this project.

Within the two years duration, the consortium is aiming at developing methods and performing analysis of the innovation potential of SMEs in the photonics industry. Each partner will perform the work with the target group of at least 30 SMEs within their area. The resulting tools and services related to improving the innovation potential will then be offered to the European SMEs.

The second step involves an examination of the value chains of these SMEs in three target industries: Advanced Manufacturing, Sustainable Energy and Transport. Methods like “heatmaps for value chains” that were developed in the previous “ASPICE” project will be used in this process. The results in the fields of economic activities, technological development status and innovative potential will then form the basis for proposals from the consortium to give content-related support to programs in infrastructure, training and private and public financing.

Finally, there will be numerous brokerage and networking events organised in different partner countries in order to support the international collaboration of EU clusters and SMEs within these value chains.

SECPhO is the task leader in the organisation of 2 annual EU photonics cluster meetings in Paris (2016) and Barcelona (2017) as well as two more brokerage and networking meetings with end-user industry representatives described before. Of course, SECPhO will be involved in all other activities within the project as well.

The following list represents the EU photonics clusters involved in the project:

• Steinbeis European Center (Germany, coordinator)
• Opticsvalley (France)
• Foundation for Research and Technology (Greece)
• OptecNet Deutschland (Germany)
• Economic Association PhotonicSweden
• Photonics Austria
• SECPhO (Spain)
• National University of Ireland Galway
• Laser and Engineering Technologies Cluster (Lithuania)
• Knowledge Transfer Network (UK)

Follow the news for more details to be announced soon!