Most of the SMEs focusing on digital solutions are bringing products to the market which are solely based on software innovations (and, to a large extent, are only app-based). If their products also innovated and differentiated on the hardware/electronic component level, their chances for business success and sustainability would be significantly enhanced. This innovation gap is created by high-risk investment, lack of core knowledge in digital solutions (especially hardware), fragmented access to technology infrastructure and experts, which are all major barriers for innovators in academia, SMEs and mid-caps struggling to adopt new digital technologies. These barriers, adding to the manufacturing gap in Europe, amplify an existing chasm to capturing value from the 4th industrial revolution.
NEXTS has significantly contributed to lowering the barriers to digitisation by building upon the well-established, widely used and successful EUROPRACTICE service and extending it towards SMEs and System Integration. This has been achieved by enhancing the services provided to European academia, extending them to start-ups and SMEs, encouraging new users from non-traditional sectors, adding new technologies to serve new markets, diversifying the service towards smart system integration, and supporting the training of future generations of engineers that will be required for the growing digital economy in Europe.
Since its creation, EUROPRACTICE has bridged the gap between academia and industry in the high-tech world by offering European universities and research institutes affordable access to the latest IC (Integrated Circuits) design tools and technologies. This is reflected in the training provided by universities from which the best IC design engineers emerge, essential for the SMEs innovation in new IC products.
NEXTS builds on the vast experience and strong position of EUROPRACTICE, which has supported the European academic sector with CAD tools and IC prototyping for over 25 years, and its partners have already supported SMEs with fabrication services for over 15 years. The consortium has been extended with CMP and TYNDALL, who provide access to complementary foundry services and, more importantly, to system integration capabilities. During the NEXTS project, more than 600 European Universities and Research Institutes got supported by easy and affordable access to state-of-the-art design tools and associated training. In addition, more than 3000 designs were fabricated in various technologies, ranging from 7 nm finFET to Si-Photonics technology.
To help ensure that Europe remains competitive in the electronics sector, it is necessary that European industry and innovative start-ups have enough high-quality well-trained engineers graduating from university. Thanks to the continuously evolving EUROPRACTICE service, European universities, research institutes and small and medium-sized companies are provided with vital infrastructure. EUROPRACTICE has grown to become an indispensable part of the European research and training landscape and part of the solution to helping Europe remain competitive.
