The photonics industry has continued to grow, shaping the future of many technologies and changing the way we interact and do business. To enable this continued innovation, the new pan-European Photonics Digital Innovation Hub (PhotonHub) recently secured €19 million to help businesses with the deployment of these photonics-based technologies. This exciting win will create unique growth opportunities for businesses across Europe, helping them to take their products and services to the next level.

The importance of photonics in future technologies

Whether it’s fiber optics for internet, green energy, or optical lenses for medical devices (and more), photonics are being used in a wide range of industries and products. The goal of PhotonHub is to accelerate the use of photonics across European industries. By creating a single source of technologies, facilities and expertise, organizations looking to innovate with photonics can easily gain access to the resources they need to expand and grow their offerings. In particular, PhotonHub is aiming to help non-photonics organizations, including SME’s and mid-caps, who are looking to be the front-runners with this technology.

To help businesses succeed, PhotonHub is offering an array of services, including:

~ Training and upskilling supports

~ “Test before invest” innovation support

~ Supports to find investment

Coming together to accelerate the growth of photonics

By joining forces, the photonic industry will be able to catapult these technologies into the future, as well as aid other businesses in growing and innovating. When asked about this unique opportunity for regional collaboration with PhotonHub Europe, Mr. Ziga Valic of Photonics France said:

“Photonics is recognised across many European regions as a key digital technology which is central to industrial innovation and prosperity. As such, we are investing strongly at a regional level in developing a vibrant local ecosystem for photonics innovation which integrates all stakeholders from research institutes and innovation labs to SMEs and large enterprises. Linking our regional efforts to PhotonHub at the European level we believe is essential as it means we can offer local companies a fast and seamless route to the best expertise and technologies in photonics to match their needs, whether that is to be found locally, nationally or on a cross-border level.”

Roll-out to begin in 2021

With funding secured, PhotonHub is aiming to begin operations in early 2021. The organization has set goals for how they expect to deliver their services and measure the impact of their offerings, outlined in this press release.

At Zemax, we’re excited to be spreading this great news and looking forward to seeing what the future brings for the photonics industry. Learn more about how Zemax software solutions can support your photonics innovations.