SEMI Europe

Invest in Pomerania initiatives, coordinated by the Pomeranian Development Agency, are key in representing the interests of Pomeranian Voivodeship, focusing on promoting the region’s technological prowess to the global semiconductor market.

SEMI Europe's ongoing collaboration with key European industry players and governmental authorities on legislation such as the European Chips Act and critical topics including workforce diversity, sustainability, and supply chain resilience are crucial to the region’s future technological strength.

SEMICON Europa 2022 (Munich, 15-17 November) attendees gathered at the Executive Forum for the Opening Ceremony on day one to hear from industry leaders and gain insights into the latest market and technology trends.

ISS Europe 2022 featured a new program and event format with industry insights and strategic topics condensed into one day of programming on 3 critical challenges facing the microelectronics industry: the energy crisis and sustainability, supply chain disruptions, and the talent pipeline shortage.

As the global economy is constantly transformed, the need for new skills has never been higher. The microelectronics industry is thoroughly affected by this urgent need. To develop a workforce fit for the future, it is crucial to invest not only in reskilling and upskilling, but also in skills anticipation and inclusivity. To tackle this need, the European microelectronics ecosystem has adopted many bottom-up initiatives and good practices supporting lifelong learning. Many companies collaborate with universities and training institutes to offer work-based training, and numerous events take place to support women participation in STEM and to attract more young talent to a microelectronics career. Despite these great efforts, further pooling of investments is necessary if Europe is to develop efficient lifelong learning programs. Creating strong skills partnerships is vital for sustainable upskilling and reskilling initiatives. According to the World Economic Forum (2021), greater private-public collaboration on large-scale upskilling and reskilling initiatives could boost global GDP by $6.5 trillion and lead to the creation of 5.3 million net new jobs by 2030. What is the Skills Partnership? Against this backdrop, SEMI Europe is launching the Skills Partnership for Microelectronics. The partnership brings together industrial and education partners from the microelectronics ecosystem to implement the Pact for Skills, an EU initiative which aims to boost upskilling and reskilling investments in key ecosystems for Europe’s competitiveness. Following the high-level roundtable with SEMI Europe’s Advisory Board, hosted by European Commissioners Thierry Breton and Nicolas Schmit, the microelectronics sector was selected in November 2020 as one of the key ecosystems for the first wave of implementation of the Pact, alongside automotive and aerospace/defense. Read more details about the October 2020 roundtable. 59 partners have already endorsed the Pact for Skills for Microelectronics. The Skills Partnership for Microelectronics aims to: Exchange good practices of upskilling and reskilling initiatives of the microelectronics industry Develop sustainable collaboration mechanisms that will monitor microelectronics skill needs, learning from the examples of the METIS blueprint project Promote the microelectronics sector as a career choice Boost the presence of women and other under-represented groups in the sector. The partners will have the opportunity to liaise not only with European, but also with national and regional authorities and clusters, so that a pan-European holistic approach to microelectronics skills development is achieved, and a significant flux of public and private investments on skills is mobilized. To launch this ambitious partnership, SEMI Europe held an initial workshop on March 17. Participants included representatives from the European Commission’s DG Connect, DG Employment and DG Grow, national and regional authorities, and over 70 industry and education partners. The workshop opened with representatives from the European Commission informing all stakeholders about the Pact for Skills initiative, as well as about EU skills-related funding opportunities. In the framework of the Pact for Skills, the Commission will support the ecosystems with a Networking Hub, a Knowledge Hub and a Guidance Resources Hub. These platforms will be available later in 2021 and will act as a one-stop-shop to support the partners and provide information on EU policies and funding opportunities. Other presentations went on to set the scene, presenting the main priorities of the partnership. Françoise Chombar, CEO of Melexis, highlighted the skills challenge experienced by the microelectronics industry. She emphasized the importance of lifelong learning and the danger of the gender disbalance in the sector and underlined the huge innovation potential and profitability that could be unleashed for Europe if the gender gap is successfully addressed. Moreover, the preliminary results of the METIS Microelectronics Skills Strategy were presented, to offer the basis for the partnership’s approach to skills anticipation. The partnership will establish working groups that will investigate the industry needs, leading to a better connection with the offer of education and training programs. Last but not least, the partnership aims to promote national and regional funding of upskilling and reskilling initiatives. In this regard, representatives from national and regional authorities and clusters participated in the meeting. The government of the Basque region had an active role, presenting the region’s priorities, incentives and main actions on promotion of lifelong learning initiatives. The next steps The meeting concluded with an overview of the next steps for the newly launched partnership. In the next workshop, the partners will align on the specific KPIs, as well as on the focus areas where they would like to engage (skills anticipation in semiconductor manufacturing, skills anticipation in semiconductor design, gender balance, etc.). In that framework, the executive board will be established, as well as the working groups that will lead the work of the partnership and set targeted objectives. If you want to take active part in the creation of this large-scale initiative, please fill in your details here. To learn more about the initiative, click here or contact [email protected]. Stefania Gavra is public affairs manager at SEMI Europe.

Europe is facing an acute shortage of skilled microelectronics workers that undermines the growth potential of not only the electronics industry but the European economy as a whole. Nearly 1.1 million job advertisements for electro-engineering workers were placed in the EU between mid-2018 and the end of 2019 (CEDEFOP, 2020). The shortfall looms large as a skilled and diverse workforce that can continuously innovate is the oxygen of microelectronics. In light of the critical importance of microelectronics to Europe’s ability to fulfill its growth potential, SEMI Europe participated in the high-level roundtable hosted by Commissioner Nicolas Schmit and Commissioner Thierry Breton on October 5. The discussion’s key takeaway: The skills challenge facing the microelectronics industry is too complex for one organization to tackle, and reskilling and upskilling its workforce should be a common priority for Europe. Only with a diverse, substantial and skilled microelectronics workforce can Europe achieve its R D, design and manufacturing ambitions while ensuring its sovereignty in the digital age. The roundtable highlighted the EU Pact for Skills as a key means to narrow the industry’s skills gap.An ever-growing part of our lives, microelectronics, with their ability to run billions of computations per second and store vast quantities of data, are the brains of modern technology. The digital sovereignty of nations around the world today relies on advanced microprocessors to collect, transfer, analyze and store immense amounts of data used in key end-user sectors such as mobility, telecommunications, energy, security and healthcare. Information and communication technologies (ICT) enabled by microelectronics are helping much of the world’s population to work and study from home and remain safe during the COVID-19 pandemic.According to the Smarter2030 Report, further deployment of ICT, including electronic components in critical sectors such as transportation, manufacturing, agriculture, construction and energy, could eliminate the equivalent of 12.1 billion tons of CO2 per year globally. These are some of the reasons why nations worldwide are making large-scale investments to advance a homegrown microelectronics R D, design and manufacturing base. It is no surprise, then, that semiconductors are now at the center of the so-called global techno-trade wars.Clearly, Europe urgently needs to mobilize and pool resources to develop effective lifelong learning programs for all workers and continue investing in microelectronics innovation. We need to instill the passion for creating technology among current and future workforce, in particular women and people with challenged backgrounds, and build a highly diverse talent pool. Working together, we can better demonstrate how computing technologies, including quantum, high-performance and edge AI, provide solutions to grand societal challenges and attract talented people to the fascinating world of electronic components and systems.Against this backdrop, the microelectronics industry finds the Pact for Skills very timely and crucial to advancing the talent pool underpinning Europe’s deep digital ecosystem. The Pact will play an instrumental role in improving the scope and the quality of training partnerships at regional, national and European levels, sharing best practices and helping the microelectronics industry and workforce adapt to the effects of COVID-19.The microelectronics industry is committed to building on the momentum created by the METIS Erasmus+ collaborative project and to mobilizing our ecosystem and education partners for a successful Pact for Skills in Microelectronics starting this year.The High-Level Roundtable: Skills for Microelectronics was hosted by Commissioner Thierry Breton and Commissioner Nicolas Schmit. Participants included Paul Boudre, CEO, SOITEC; Lars Reger, CEO Germany and CTO, NXP; Frits van Hout, Executive Vice-President and Chief Strategy Officer, ASML; Françoise Chombar, CEO, Melexis; Emmanuel Sabonnadiere, CEO, CEA-Leti; Luc Van den hove, President and CEO, imec; Sabine Nietzsche, Board member, Silicon Saxony and Vice President, GlobalFoundries; Laith Altimime, President, SEMI Europe (coordinator of METIS); Yolande Berbers, President, European Society for Engineering Education (SEFI); James Calleja, President, European Forum for Technical Vocational Education and Training (EFVET); Ludovic Voet, Confederal Secretary, European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC).Emir Demircan is director of Advocacy and Public Policy at SEMI Europe. To learn more about SEMI Europe advocacy, contact Emir at [email protected].

On 21 September, SEMI and a coalition of 40 industry organisations sent a letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen calling for decisive action to solve implementation issues within the European Union Waste Framework Directive, specifically the Substances of Concern in Products (SCIP) database.The signatories, who represent a very significant part of the European economy, are requesting urgent resolution of implementation issues for the SCIP database, which is designed to support the circular economy as defined in the European Green Deal. The database is required under Article 9.1 of the updated Waste Framework Directive.In the letter, the signatories ask President von der Leyen to take immediate action to: Postpone the SCIP notification deadline of 5 January 2021 to at least one year after finalization of the database; Conduct a study on the usefulness, feasibility, proportionality and impact of the database; Instruct the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) to adapt the SCIP database according to the outcome of the proposed study. ECHA failed to complete development of the database by the January 2020 deadline required by the Waste Framework Directive, leaving companies insufficient time to develop, test and adapt their own systems to meet the January 2021 SCIP notification deadline.Over the last two years, the signatories have repeatedly shared their serious concerns regarding the viability, proportionality and value of the SCIP database with the European Commission and the ECHA, yet those concerns remain unresolved.Contrary to the EU Better Regulation principles that call for open and transparent decision making, Article 9.1 was added to the revised Waste Framework Directive during the final stage of the co-decision process without any prior stakeholder consultation or impact assessment. A proper impact study should help shape the way forward to deliver on the EU ambition of driving a circular European economy.Coalition PartnersEmir Demircan is director of Advocacy and Public Policy at SEMI Europe.

As a top semiconductor manufacturing hub, Korea is poised to lead the world in fab construction spending in 2019 and 2020, accounting for 27 percent of the total market. Little wonder that Korea’s prowess in the semiconductor industry has meant steady membership growth for SEMI Korea, with HD Cho, president of SEMI Korea, putting the average annual jump at about 7 percent.But HD Cho’s focus as he returned to COEX in Seoul, home to SEMICON Korea, in late August was not on membership growth over the years but the future. Cho hosted about 400 SEMI members gathered at SEMI Korea Members Day for insights into the state of the world economy, semiconductor industry outlooks, and perspectives on how South Korean and European microelectronics companies can form stronger ties. Setting the stage with look at macroeconomics, Byung-yeon Kim, team manager of NH Investment and Securities, predicted that, as the global economy continues to falter, 25 of the 58 major countries this year will cut interest rates in a bid to boost prospects for growth. Historically, the global composite leading indicator (CLI), a bellwether for turning points in the economy, has rebounded after 20 months of decline, he said. While the CLI downtrend is now past the 20-month mark, Kim struck a bullish note, predicting that the global economy will bounce back before long.Soo-kyoum Kim, vice president at IDC, referring to the semiconductor industry’s own soft patch, said that total revenue is expected to drop from $475 billion in 2018 to $440 billion this year but should rebound to a new high of $500 billion in 2023. The memory market will be especially hard-hit, dropping more than 29 percent in 2019 and another 14 percent next year before bottoming and then staging a recovery in the second half of 2020. The strength of the rebound will hinge on server market demand, he added.Next year will also see rebounds in semiconductor equipment and materials revenue, with growth of 12 percent and 3 percent, respectively, said Clark Tseng, director of Industry Research and Statistics at SEMI. The increases will follow a 2019 equipment market drop of 18 percent to $53 billion from the previous year while materials this year is expected to remain flat at $52 billion. The semiconductor industry will expand at a modest 2.4 percent this year, jumping to 7.6 percent in 2020, Tseng reported, citing the average growth rate based on data from Gartner, WSTC, IC Insights, VLSI Research and other industry analyst firms. Despite current weak market demand and the ongoing trade war, the long-term outlook for the semiconductor industry remains upbeat, he added.In Europe, semiconductor industry growth continues on the strength of the region’s high strategic importance in the global electronics supply chain, said Laith Altimime, president of SEMI Europe. Fab construction spending in Europe continued to grow in 2018, reaching $300 million, and is expected to hit $1.2 billion in 2019 and $1.6 billion in 2020, with equipment, parts and components driving the surges.To help build stronger ties between European and Korean chip industries, Altimime introduced the SEMI Korea members to SEMI Europe business platforms including SEMICON Europe, the 3D System Summit, ISS Europe, and the MEMS Imaging Sensor Summit. He also encouraged the formation of more business partnerships between companies in the two regions by familiarizing SEMI Korea members with European players in areas such as foundry, MEMS, sensors and wafer manufacturing.And it will be MEMS and sensors that help drive the 4th Industrial Revolution, said Sung-hyuk Kim, a team leader at LG Electronics' Sensor Solution Research Institute. In his presentation Architecting Sensor Solutions for the Next Revolution, he noted that sensors are finding their way into devices where they have never been used before. In household refrigerators, gas sensors help deodorize the inside while distance sensors detect the approach of people. Air conditioners equipped with a camera sensor can pinpoint the location of humans and steer the airflow in their direction. Of course, all these smarts will come in form of data-devouring artificial intelligence (AI), and that data will be generated in massive amounts by MEMS and sensors – placing them at the epicenter of the 4th Industrial Revolution.Jaegwan Shim is a marketing specialist at SEMI Korea.