Jun 6 2007
As the fourth annual euroLED exhibition opened its doors today, it also welcomed a prestige, international delegate group, including representatives from global trade bodies and over 20 leading technology companies, gathered by UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) for its flagship conference, Technology World.
The Technology World conference schedule was extended to include euroLED, Europe's leading Solid State Lighting (SSL) conference and exhibition, as the event was seen as the premier showcase of this breakthrough technology with applications to many industry sectors.
"This delegate party has come to build important partnerships throughout all sectors of industry in the UK," said Ajay Desai of Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce. "SSL technology has forced its way on to the international trade agenda with its rapid technological, and subsequent commercial, development - EuroLED was a must-see for the group.
"The planning cycle for re-visiting the event in 2008 and further increasing our co-operation with The Photonics Cluster UK is already in motion," concluded Mr Desai.
The visiting Technology World party includes giants such as LG Electronics, Softbank Mobile Corporation and Chengdu Santai Electronic Industry, along with representatives of trade bodies from Germany, Singapore, India, Turkey, Australia and Japan.
"SSL and LED technology is playing a part in almost all industry sectors, from mobile handsets, to street lighting, to architecture, and the visit of these companies and the UKTI demonstrates the importance of SSL to our industry as a whole," said Conference Chair and Director at Aston Science Park, Dr. Geoff Archenhold. "We have seen rapid developments in the capabilities and efficiencies of the technology, and the UK is already leading the way in these advances, boasting over fifty companies in the SSL and LED space in the West Midlands alone.
"The global SSL market stands to be worth in the region of US$175 billion by 2020, and the UK could see a significant chunk of that, through both domestic growth and mergers and acquisitions. Support from the UKTI, the Chamber of Commerce and the DTI, amongst other leading trade bodies, has helped us establish a real lead in this market."
The high level visit came on the opening day of euroLED, which featured both large international players and small start-ups with niche applications. Among them was US-headquartered Microchip Technology, who the previous week had set up a lighting division and created an online Lighting Applications Design Center (www.microchip.com/lighting).
Lucio Di Jasio, manager Microchip's Application Segments Group, said, "Industry trends toward more energy-efficient light sources with increased functionality drove the development of our Lighting Applications Design Center. We are pleased to support designers in the creation of next-generation lighting applications, and to launch the centre at one of the world's leading lighting shows."