Wales joins the European Semiconductor Regional Alliance

08th September 2023

CSconnected welcomes the news that the Welsh Government has become a signatory of an alliance of European regional governments, promoting growth, fostering collaboration, and developing strong value chains in the semiconductor industry.

The Welsh Government’s Representative on Europe, on behalf of Minister for the Economy Vaughan Gething, has signed a declaration to join the European Semiconductor Regional Alliance (ESRA), becoming one of the 19 founding regions of the alliance.

The ESRA will act as a regional platform as well as a partner to the European Union and will promote the competitiveness of the industry globally. The ESRA’s activities focus on:

research and innovation, developing new technologies and applications
skills and talent, promoting education and training programmes
cluster development, promoting regional clusters and cross-regional partnerships

Chris Meadows, CSconnected Director, says:

The founding of ESRA is an excellent news that will enable Wales’ semiconductor industry to strengthen value chains with Europe by collaborating closely through joint research & innovation, skills & talent development as well as cluster development & cooperation. We look forward to working with the Welsh Government and ESRA to enable new opportunities for the cluster and our academia and industry partners.

Contacts:

CSconnected
info@csconnected.com
Chris Meadows
Camille Colombier

About CSconnected

CSconnected is the collective brand for a growing number of advanced semiconductor related activities in Wales, home to a unique community of academic institutions, prototyping facilities and global, high-volume manufacturing capabilities that collaborate across a range of research and innovation programs. CSconnected is uniquely positioned to develop a global advantage in a sovereign, key enabling technology which will allow Wales and the UK to increase trade globally in critical sectors such as 5G communications, autonomous and electric vehicles, advanced medical devices, and consumer electronics of the future.

In 2020, CSconnected received government funding provided through UK Research and Innovation’s flagship Strength in Places Fund (SIPF). The 55-month CSconnected SIPF project has a total value of £43million, supported by £25million of UKRI funds. It builds on Wales's regional strengths and integrates research excellence with a unique regional supply chain in compound semiconductor manufacturing.