As part of the launched European project "MultiKETs Pilot lines", Sofradir organizes a series of workshops on the 21st, 22nd and 23rd October at its site of Veurey-Voroize near Grenoble. More than a hundred executives representing the research, industrial and financial sectors have been invited. The aim is to share the experience of Sofradir in the implementation of so called Key Enabling Technologies ("KETs"), focusing on the period between technological developments and commercialization. For many companies, this phase of pilot production often means a "valley of death".
Sofradir Workshops for the European Industry
Based on the pilot line examples of Sofradir and three other corporate partners in the project, the European Commission aspires to help businesses to overcome the major obstacles for their technological program initiatives. In order to avoid innovative technologies falling in the "valley of death", a joined effort of business and policy is necessary. The aim is to ensure that technology developments achieve their ultimate goal, to bring new technologies to the market , and, finally, to be a source of industrial jobs in Europe.
Up to now, the European Commission supports research in many ways. In order to continue providing markets with innovative products, an additional significant effort must be directed to the industrialization phase. In this framework, Sofradir’s pilot line, sets an example: Based on new technologies developed in collaboration with CEA-Leti, diverse new products can be implemented which are more compact, value added energy-saving and opening new areas of technology applications, but all this is just possible with a breathtaking effort for the mid cap company. "The development of these new technologies is essential for Sofradir and their industrialization is already well advanced", says Michel Vuillermet, head of the "MultiKETs" project at Sofradir. "We should start the production within a year", he concludes.
