During this workshop, organised by the European Commission in collaboration with the Polish authorities, participants will discuss the next steps in setting up competence centers in semiconductors.

Participants will include representatives of companies, research organisations, national authorities, and other stakeholders with interests in the semiconductor sector.

The setting up of competence centres in semiconductors is a crucial element of the Chips for Europe Initiative, the first pillar of the proposed European Chips Act. A competence centre is a single entity or a coordinated group of entities with complementary expertise, and with not-for-profit objectives, which will be providing services to semiconductor stakeholders, particularly SMEs and mid-caps.

Examples include facilitating access to pilot lines and to the design platform, providing training and skills development, support to finding investors, making use of existing local competencies or reaching out to the relevant verticals. The services should be provided on an open, transparent and non-discriminatory basis.

Semiconductors competence centres could be located in either existing or new institutions across Member States. The goal is to have at least one competence centre in each Member State, and each of them will serve as an entry point to the whole European network.

The workshop will include three sessions: 

• The first session will focus on the experiences of existing hubs and centers with similar objectives. 
• The second session will feature the input from companies and other stakeholders making use of the centers. 
• In the third session, the representatives of national authorities will share their views on setting up semiconductors competence centers.

By the end of the workshop, we aim at having found common ground for the next steps to follow by all involved parties.

The agenda and more information on the workshop can be found on the event website.