Implementing the ambitious Digital Agenda for Europe unveiled by the European Commission on the 19 May 2010 would contribute significantly to the EU's economic growth and spread the benefits of the digital era to all sections of society. Half of European productivity growth over the past 15 years was already driven by information and communications technologies (see IP/10/571) and this trend is likely to accelerate. The Agenda outlines seven priority areas for action: creating a digital Single Market, greater interoperability, boosting internet trust and security, much faster internet access, more investment in research and development, enhancing digital literacy skills and inclusion, and applying information and communications technologies to address challenges facing society like climate change and the ageing population. Examples of benefits include easier electronic payments and invoicing, rapid deployment of telemedicine and energy efficient lighting. In these seven areas, the Digital Agenda foresees some 100 follow-up actions, of which 31 would be legislative. The Digital Agenda is the first of seven flagship initiatives under the Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth (see IP/10/225).

You can read the full press release here.

You can read the speech of Neelie Kroes here.

Please find further information about the Digital Agenda here.

The Secretariat Photonics21 would like to inform you that the next Photonics21 work group 4 workshop will take place on the 2 July 2010 from 10.00 - 16.00 in the Sheraton Hotel at the Düsseldorf airport. The major topic on the agenda will be the teaming up of work group 4 with the organic and large area electronics community. You can find the draft agenda for the meeting here. If you plan to attend the WG4 workshop, please send us an e-mail before the 18 June 2010.
The next Photonics21 work group 1 workshop will take place on the 25 June 2010 from 10.00 - 16.00 at the European Commission in Brussels. You can find the draft agenda for the workshop here. Please find a travel guide here. If you would like to attend the WG1 workshop, we kindly ask you to send us an e-mail by the 17 June 2010 to confirm us your participation.
 

The Photonics21 exhibition booth at the SPIE Photonics Europe Conference attracted many interested conference participants and visitors to the exhibition. They informed themselves about Photonics21 and received information about the new Photonics21 Strategic Research Agenda Lighting the way ahead and the study Photonics in Europe - Economic Impact. Some visitors also registered as a new member at the exhibition booth. Photonics21 welcomes all new members to the platform!

You can find further information and photos of the SPIE Photonics Europe here.

On the 16 April 2010, Photonics21 work group 3 life science & health held a workshop in Brussels in the frame of the Photonics Europe Conference. Jürgen Schnekenburger from the ETP Nanomedicine gave a presentation about nanotechnologies for tumor cell biology and gastric tumor diagnostics. Dennis Mathews from the NSF Center for Biophotonics presented the Biophotonics4Life Worldwide Consortium which aims to globally coordinate and expedite the development and clinical translation of biophotonics methods, skills and devices. It is a virtual worldwide forum of biophotonics researchers, clinicians, bioscientists, industry researchers/entrepreneurs and organizations to lead activities that better harness global talent and resources and focus them on fundamental discovery and innovation to meet major challenges in healthcare and other needs. The presentation was followed by a common discussion with regard to the SWOT analysis in the frame of international cooperation and how to further tackle the defined challenges.

You can find the presentations in the section WG3 workshops within the member area of the Photonics21 website.

The brochure "How optics and photonics address Europ'es challenges of the 21st century" shows how photonics addresses Europe's challenges in the 21st century by providing solutions for health, energy, the environment, production, IT, security and transport. You can promote your research project for free. Project descriptions should be submitted until the 28 May 2010.

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Sedat Nizamoglu, Natalie Vermeulen and Photonics21 Vice President Giorgio Anania (from left to right)

Natalie Vermeulen and Sedat Nizamoglu are the two winners of the Second Photonics21 Student Innovation Award. Giorgio Anania, Photonics21 Vice president and member of the Photonics21 Executive Board, awarded them the prize at the opening ceremony of the Photonics Europe Conference in Brussels on the 12 April 2010. Anania each handed them over a cheque of 2500 Euros, an official certificate and a trophy. The Photonics21 Student Innovation Award 2010 is sponsored by Thales, SPIE Europe and the European project Accord. SPIE Europe also gave the two winners a complimentary ticket for the Photonics Europe Conference.

Vermeulen holds a degree of Electrotechnical Engineer with majors in photonics and the title of Doctor in Engineering with greatest distinction and works as a post doctoral research at the Department of Applied Physics and Photonics at the Vrije Universiteit Brussels. Her outstanding research work is entitled “Silicon Raman devices with enhanced efficiency and reduced heat dissipation” and covers the area of silicon-on-insulator-based lasers, amplifiers and wavelength converters, the working mechanism which relies on a light-matter interaction called Raman scattering. Silicon-on-insulator based Raman devices may have a considerable impact in the optical information and communication technology and could also support industrial applications by operating at mid-infrared wavelengths. Vermeulen is the author of 9 peer reviewed publications, 15 conference proceedings and 1 patent, and was invited as speaker at 4 international conferences.

Nizamoglu works as a research assistant at the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering at the Bilkent University in Ankara. His research entitled “White light Generation Using CdSe/ZnS Core-Shell Nanocrystals Hybridized with InGaN/GaN Light Emitting Diodes” concentrates on the development and demonstration of a new class of white light emitting diodes integrated with nanophosphors of semiconductor nanocrystal quantum dots for efficient high-quality lighting. They have a high potential for use in future high-quality solid-state lighting and displays. Nizamoglu has published 25 Science Scitation Index journal articles, 45 further articles, and 2 patents pending.

The award committee has been set up by nine European photonic experts who are members of the seven Photonics21 work groups and who are elected for a term of three years which started in 2009. Roberta Ramponi, Photonics21 chair of work group 7, steers the committee as chair. The other members of the committee are:

Dimitra Simeonidou, University of Essex, as representative of WG 1

Andreas Friedel, TRUMPF Laser Marketing Systems AG, as representative of WG2

Boris Vedlin, CEO Optotek medical, as representative of WG 3

Anna Cavallini, University of Bologna, as representative of WG 4

Santiago Olaizola, CEIT - IK4 Research Alliance, as representative of WG 5

Francois Flory, Ecole Centrale Marseille, as representative of WG 6.

Lluis Torner, ICFO, as representative of WG 7

Malgorzata Kujawinska, Warsaw University of Technology, as representative of the Photonics21 Executive Board.

The award recognizes industrial-related R&D diploma and master thesis in applied optics and photonics to support training and education in photonics throughout Europe, to foster a closer cooperation between industry and academia and to increase public relation activities for photonics education.

The next Photonics21 Student Innovation Award will be handed over in 2011. Further information about the Photonics21 Student Innovation Award can be found here.

Photonics21 will be active during the Photonics Europe Conference which will take place from the 12 to the 16 April 2010 in Brussels.

You can read more about all Photonics21 activities here.

The transnational PIANO+ call “Photonics-based Internet Access Networks of the Future” has opened today. PIANO+ is co-funded by the participating national funding bodies and the European Commission. The competition will be open for participants from Austria, Germany, Israel, Poland and the United Kingdom. Proposals are sought for the development of photonic technology and system architectures for the scalable, future proof and energy efficient access network and its extension to the customers´ premises including the home. These shall be capable of allowing the potential of cost-effective 1 Gbit/s (and beyond) access to all subscribers. The deadline for pre-proposal submission is the 29 April 2010. Full proposals have to be submitted by the 16 June 2010.

You will find any further information on the PIANO+ Homepage www.pianoplus.eu .

During the upcoming Photonics Europe Conference in Brussels, Photonics21 will be very active. In the frame of the conference opening ceremony on the 12 April 2010, the second Photonics21 Student InnovationAward will be handed over to this year’s winner. The Student Innovation Award 2010 is sponsored by SPIE Europe, Thales and the European project Accord. Photonics21 thanks all sponsors for their support.
Following this event, Photonics21 Vice President Giorgio Anania will give a presentation entitled Illuminating the Path to Growth: The European Research Strategy in Photonics.
In the afternoon, Photonics21 will conduct an industry session in cooperaton with SPIE Europe which will take place from 13.00 - 17.30 in room 204. The session will concentrate on the European photonics industry and the Photonics21 Strategic Research Agenda as well as on entrepreneurship & venture capital.You can find the draft agenda for the industry session here.

Photonics21 also will be present with a booth in the main exhibition hall located at position 207. The exhibition will start on Tuesday, 13 April 2010. We welcome you to have a look at the Photonics21 booth and to have some interesting discussions.

On Friday, 16 April 2010, Photonics21 members from work group 3 life science & health are invited to attend a common workshop which will take place from 10.00am-13.00pm in room 314/316 (third floor). You can have a closer look at the planned agenda for the meeting here.

You can find further information about the programme of the Photonics Europe conference here.

You can find any further information about the conference here.

We look forward to meeting you during the Photonics Europe Conference!

Feedback on an international conference is important and helps to improve the organisation of the next meeting. Photonics21 thanks all the participants who attended the Photonics21 Annual Meeting and provided their feedback to the Secretariat. More than 300 people attended and around a quarter completed feedback forms.

Participants were first asked to evaluate six different aspects of the organisation of the Annual Meeting as excellent, good, fair or poor.

Website information - About 60% of the responses stated that the conference information on the Photonics21 website was “good”, while more than 70% evaluated the registration procedure at the meeting as “excellent”.

5 star hotel - With regard to the suitability of the Radisson Blu Royal Hotel as conference venue and the quality of the catering, about 50% of the respondents said they were “good”.
Presenting photonics - Concerning the quality of the speakers, more than two thirds of respondents evaluated them as “good”.

Meeting the experts - Networking opportunities are another important aspect of an international conference such as the Photonics21 Annual Meeting. Around 45% rated them as “excellent”, while another 45% said that networking opportunities during the meeting were “good”. 

With regard to the question, “What was the most valuable part of the meeting for you?” the work group workshops were ranked first, followed by the general assembly, while the evening reception was placed third.

Networking and the interaction between companies and academia were the most important answers to the question, “What did you like best about the meeting?” The workshop discussions and the presentations from outside Europe were regarded as further enriching aspects of the Photonics21 Annual Meeting.

The participants also gave the Secretariat some valuable suggestions for improving the next Annual Meeting. One was to invite representatives from Asia as speakers. Another suggestion was to dedicate more time to the work group sessions and to offer more time for networking opportunities.

The Photonics21 Secretariat will carefully consider all the feedback to make the next Photonics21 Annual Meeting even better.