Óscar López places the State "at the forefront" of new European technologies

BarcelonaThe Spanish Minister of Digital Transformation, Óscar LópezSpanish Minister of Digital Transformation, Óscar LópezIn his speech at the event, López called for "empowering Europe" to earn a place in "the industrial revolution that is changing the shape of the world." Although the leadership of these transitions is far from the 27 – the United States and China are benchmarks – the minister has championed a Spanish innovative fabric that "shines in disruptive technologies." In this regard, he highlighted the role of the Catalan technological institute, both in research and in the technological transfer of these new capabilities. The ICFO, he recalled, has already generated fourteen spin-off companies that are active in the market, and "projects like PIXEurope help to ensure that this trend continues."

For her part, Montserrat has embraced Catalonia's intention to "play a leading role" in Europe's path towards sovereignty in deep technologies. "The Draghi and Letta reports have made it clear to us that we cannot just live on knowledge. We must connect knowledge with industry and manufacturing," insisted the Minister of Research and Universities. To do this, she called for "connecting various regions of Europe" to activate synergies between centers and companies that can accelerate the market entry of technological research. "In this transformation, we need a complete value chain," she insisted.

400 million to the EU

PIXEurope is one of the European initiatives that Brussels has launched through the Chips Act, the European Commission's initiative to ensure the functioning of the semiconductor and microcomputing sector on the continent. The program involves research institutions and companies from ten EU countries, as well as the United Kingdom, although Spain plays a "leading role" due to the rich photonics research and industry ecosystem present in the country. The coordination of the initiative falls to ICFO, although the University of Vigo, the Polytechnic University of Valencia, and CSIC also collaborate. In the Catalan case, the initiative is part of what is known as the Innovative Trident, the government's new technologies plan package, which also includes the Innofab project and the DARE chip program of the Barcelona Supercomputing Center.

The project has a total budget of around 400 million euros, dedicated to driving research in advanced photonic circuits. The advantage these mechanisms offer over traditional microchips is that, by moving photons instead of electrons, they are much more efficient in terms of energy consumption, one of the major problems that need to be solved for the full adoption of artificial intelligence and other technologies requiring high computing capabilities.

Of these 400 million euros, 190 will be borne by the Commission, while the Spanish government will contribute 66.5 million. With this funding, Brussels aims to ensure "the transition from laboratory to factory" for innovations in photonic chips that can be developed by the involved institutions. In the coming years, this sector is expected to register 800% growth, driven by the widespread use of AI.