WP1 achieved an effective coordination of the project partners and activities, a monitoring of all aspects of the project flow, including contractual obligations, and an oversight of the strategy to achieve the expected objectives and impacts. The work package also ensured the smooth execution of several meetings and workshops, both online and in-person.
WP2 has carried out an economic analysis of the semiconductor ecosystem in the EU27 and a selected number of leading semiconductor countries (Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, China, the USA, Singapore and India, following the request of the EC). It allowed us to identify the EU’s economic and industrial strengths and weaknesses, strategic dependencies, market opportunities and opportunities for cooperation, by considering the entire semiconductor value chain, from raw materials to equipment and manufacturing, across the family of semiconductor products, from advanced processors to innovative functionalities, and across the main end-user segments.
The existing cooperation related to semiconductors between the EU and these countries have also been identified. The market opportunities have also been identified for the EU by 2030, especially considering the EU green and digital transitions.
In WP3, the objective of the activities has been to consider a comprehensive list of current EU, non-EU and international (e.g. IEEE IRDS, IPSR-I) roadmaps in Advanced Computation and Functionalities, in order to draft an initial catalogue of the most promising emerging technologies in these areas.
Inputs were also gathered from ICOS and other European key events, and desk research.
The technology inventory follows the segmentation across indicators in line with the other work packages.
Then, a preliminary quantitative assessment of European and non-European strengths and weaknesses for the next generation and emerging technologies has been performed.
Supported by inputs from WP2 and WP3, WP4 aimed to identify generic needs and challenges in the semiconductor field for which international cooperation, driven by public authorities, is critically important, and to develop a prioritized list of such needs. 15 challenges have been taken into account. Options for finding solutions to these challenges, with their different dimensions (Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental, Legal) and cooperation need options were identified.
A White Paper on “Generic Challenges and International Cooperation in the Semiconductor Field” was published as a part of the work executed in WP4. This white paper includes a detailed list of identified challenges and aims to outline the generic challenges in the semiconductor field, along with associated strategies to mitigate these challenges through international cooperation.
In WP5, the activities were focused on gathering first inputs from the work package participants and on defining the format of the future results.
This WP started in September 2023 and was oriented towards gathering the necessary information to support international engagement of the European Commission with governments and funding bodies. Based on the first results from the preceding workpackages, a framework was set up, which will be the basis for obtaining further priorisation.
Other activities were oriented towards establishing an understanding of opportunities for international cooperation supported by an informational matrix for cooperation schemes based on levels of cooperation as well as country specific information on institutional, research and industry levels. A continuous dialog with the commission has been established to best address the current issues in international cooperation in semiconductor and to grasp and adapt to the rapid evolution at global level.
All 8 deliverables planned during the first year of ICOS were delivered on time and all 5 milestones were achieved on schedule.
