To promote the development of the photonics microchip industry, scientists, policy makers, and representatives of the world's leading companies convene at RTU.
The event will give company representatives and policy makers the opportunity to learn more about Latvia's technological and scientific achievements to date, and the country’s vast potential in the global photonics microchip environment.
Held October 18 and 19, the event began at 13:00 in the RTU Faculty of Electronics and Telecommunications (ETF) department. Representatives of foreign and Latvian industry companies, the Ministry of Economy, the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia, and RTU officials and scientists are all taking part.
RTU rector Tālis Juhna will share with the honored guests and esteemed colleagues RTU’s ambitions for narrowing the gap between science and industry, paying particular attention to photonics microchips as an important area for RTU’s research and innovation and the development of Latvia’s national economy.
RTU ETF tenured professor Oskars Ozoliņš will outline the future development of photonics microchips in Latvia, while professor Aivars Vembris, Head of Laboratory of Organic Materials at Institute of Solid State Physics, University of Latvia (ISSP UL) blueprints the future of polymer photonics.
RTU and ISSP UL are currently Latvia’s leading players in microchip technology development, and their strong performance have already been evaluated on the international scale.
For example - just this year alone - RTU ETF scientists have obtained several world records in Data Center interconnection technologies using silicon photonics chips. As O. Ozoliņš points out in an opinion article on the portal «Delfi», «this significantly increases the interest of global partners in cooperation, which should be developed as the first stage of the development of the microchip industry in Latvia. It is the first opportunity to attract investments for science-intensive activities, additionally attracting SMEs, start-ups, scientific institutions and creates the jobs of eight highly valued specialists in related fields.»
The website «labsoflatvia.com» also shares the development of photonics microchips in Latvia and the vital role RTU plays.
During the event, participants will also learn about the experiences of other countries and companies regarding microchip ecosystem development, visit the RTU ETF Telecommunications Institute laboratory, become acquainted with the work of RTU scientists and future developments, and discuss the impact of the European Microchip Act. The group will also examine opportunities for cooperation and partnership in microchip technologies with RTU and the ISSP UL, along with potential barriers and motivators for industry development.
The two-day RTU event is part of the «5G Techritory» forum and is Europe’s leading 5G ecosystem initiative, which is being held for the sixth time in 2023. The forum is organized by VAS Elektroniskie Sakari, in cooperation with the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia, Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development, and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). The forum's strategic partner is Latvian Mobile Telephone, and it is supported by the Nordic Council of Ministers and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
