MEDEA+ / Pôle de Compétitivité / ITEA 2

Hightech, high touch

Within EUREKA, the eight-year programme MEDEA+ is the industry-initiated European programme for co-operative Research and Development in micro-and nanoelectronics. With so far 73 running or already ended projects, the programme mobilises cumulative resources of almost 20 000 person-years, leading to a cost volume in excess of 4 billion €.
Europe's advanced industrial base deserves a level playing field in response to challenges originating in other parts of the world. MEDEA+ brings together all key-actors from industry, SMEs, academia and institutes safeguarding that European innovations and high-tech systems will remain the cornerstone of Europe's competitiveness and economical backbone, today and tomorrow.

The Netherlands are one of the top contributors to MEDEA+ programme.

More information: MEDEA+


Dutch Pôle de Compétitivité Nanoelectronics and Embedded Systems

For European competitiveness Europe needs coordinated nanoelectronics and embedded systems policies as well as high tech clusters to deliver both R&D and high-end manufacturing.
Through the development of the European Strategic Research Agenda’s on Nanoelectronics (ENIAC) and Embedded Systems (Artemis), Europe is leading the way for European industry to combine strengths.
The Netherlands is ideally placed to take a lead role in this initiative. Intensive interaction between industry, universities and research institutes, SMEs and suppliers has effectively laid the groundwork for a Dutch Pôle de Compétitivité focused on nanoelectronics and embedded systems, that would spearhead European activity in this vital field.
Recently, Dutch companies and knowledge institutes active in the high technology arena have issued a clear call for the creation of a Dutch Pôle de Compétitivité that will benefit both the European and the national interest. Dutch industry is proposing to invest heavily in a public private cooperation to create a Dutch Pôle de Compétitivité. A dedicated program has been defined targeting both R&D and ecosystem/cluster development in an integrated manner.

More information: Pôle de Compétitivité


ITEA 2 – European leadership in Software-intensive Systems and Services

Maintaining leadership in the area of Software-intensive Systems and Services is essential to securing Europe’s future competitiveness in a wide range of industries. ITEA 2 was set up to strengthen European industry in this rapidly evolving field.
Embedded, Software-intensive Systems (SiS) are a crucial and growing element of ICT. Over the past decade, there has been an explosion in embedded SiS now at the heart of a wide range of products and services, affecting all aspects of our everyday lives. SiS are a cornerstone of Europe’s most competitive industries, a growth engine for Europe’s economy and a vital driver of innovation.
ITEA 2 (Information Technology for European Advancement) is a EUREKA cluster programme for cooperative, pan-European, pre-competitive R&D in SiS. It brings together partners from large companies, small and medium sized enterprises, research institutes and universities in strategic projects. These projects are industry-driven and must involve complementary R&D from a minimum of two partners in at least two EUREKA countries. They build crucial middleware, prepare common standards and establish solid technology platforms, laying the foundation for the next generation of products, systems, appliances and services.
ITEA 2 succeeds the very successful ITEA programme which has a project portfolio of 85 projects, more than 400 partners, translating into an effort of 9,500 person-years and an investment of 1.2 billion Euro.

More information: ITEA 2