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06 Jul 2018
Latest series of events intended to help overcome market barriers for photonics SMEs in life sciences, food and agriculture.
A series of free-to-attend “photonics roadshow” events, intended to reduce market barriers for photonics SMEs in Europe, will pitch up in Barcelona later this year.
Organized by nine different cluster organizations working under the Horizon2020-funded “EPRISE” project, five such roadshows are scheduled for the coming year - with other events lined up in Berlin, Marseille, Amsterdam, and Newcastle.
Each roadshow event has a specific focus on one of the life science market sectors target by the EPRISE project: medical technologies, pharmaceuticals, food, and agriculture.
The idea is to help photonics businesses explore solutions to market challenges and boost collaboration across application sectors that can prove difficult for SMEs to penetrate – for example because of complex regulatory frameworks.
Co-ordinated by the Pole Optitec cluster in Marseille, France, the EPRISE project (short for Empowering Photonics through Regional Innovation Strategies in Europe) was awarded €1.4 million as part of the “industrial leadership” theme under Horizon2020.
Optitec-based project coordinator Cecilia Pinto says that the five forthcoming roadshows - which follow two successful recent events in Stockholm and Florence - are intended to raise the profile of photonics and its potential to end-users, by bringing together key groups.
Groups involved in the initiative include the Southern European Cluster in Photonics and Optics (SECPhO) in Barcelona, Photonics Finland, PhotonicSweden, and the UK’s Centre for Process Innovation (CPI), among others.
‘Ask the expert’
The Barcelona roadshow is set to explore the potential for photonics technologies in the global food sector, and will take place 27-28 September.
The focus will then shift to healthcare in both Berlin and Marseille in October and November respectively, while next year the roadshow will pitch up in Amsterdam to discuss ideas in agriculture and food, before moving on to Newcastle, UK, and returning to the healthcare and pharmaceuticals theme.
According to the event co-ordinators, each of the roadshows is aimed at businesses operating in photonics, as well as end-users, regional authorities and researchers, and can be attended free of charge.
“A panel of experts will present on the opportunities and challenges relating to the market area of focus of each event,” state the organizers. “Pre-arranged business-to-business meetings between SMEs, end users and integrators will be organized to stimulate and strengthen collaborations along the value chain, at regional, national and European levels.”
That will be complemented by an opportunity for attendees to “ask the expert” about any particular issues relating to their photonics business.
• For further details on event dates and locations visit the European Photonics Roadshow Series web site.
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