KLAGENFURT, Germany--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Research and innovation with a total value of several hundreds of millions of euro will be supported in Carinthia through combining ESIF and H2020 funding to leverage national, regional and private investments. Region of Carinthia and ECSEL Joint Undertaking today signed a Memorandum of Understanding to this effect, with the objective to actively explore synergies among the programmes and maximise their impact on jobs and growth in the region.
The new European rules allow for using different mechanisms, such as the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) and the Horizon 2020 programme, for supporting actions with synergistic objectives. In addition, the ECSEL Joint Undertaking “for European Leadership" (ECSEL) receives European funding through Horizon 2020 to leverage national, regional and public investments in order to support innovation in electronic component and systems, the basis of the information and communication technology.
Dr. Peter Kaiser, Governor of Carinthia, said: “The Region of Carinthia hosts leading organizations in the ECSEL field of activity, and is now well positioned to take this collaboration to the next level, enhancing its presence in the European context”. Dr. Gaby Schaunig, Vice Governor responsible for Innovation and Research, said: “The closer collaboration with ECSEL will further increase our contribution to European projects of strategic importance, maximising the impact of innovation ’made in Carinthia‘ on jobs and growth”. The regional Minister for SME and enterprises Christian Benger underlined that “Carinthia pursues an active policy to strengthen enterprise competitiveness, in particular for SMEs; innovative companies and research institution from our region now experience the benefit of a coordinated public support”.
Dr. Andreas Wild, Executive Director of ECSEL JU, said: “Concepts like ’Industry 4.0‘ demonstrate that technologies based on electronic components and systems become the engine for innovation and growth in all areas. Collaborating with Carinthia, ECSEL confirms its capacity to bring together its stakeholders, align strategies and enable considerable European investments for leading in the global competition.”
Region of Carinthia and ECSEL JU will work together to identify synergistic objectives, coordinate or synchronize actions, and develop mechanisms to minimise administrative burden.
About ECSEL JU
The “Electronic Components and Systems for European Leadership” (ECSEL) is a Joint Undertaking under Art. 187 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union; it is established by the Council Regulation (EU) No 561/2014 that entered into power on 27 June 2014. It is a public-private partnership contributing to the implementation of the European “Horizon 2020” programme. In the period 2014-2020 ECSEL will engage up to 1.17 billion euro Union funding and combine it with at least the same amount of national/regional funding to leverage about 5 billion euro R&D investments in nanoelectronics, embedded and cyber-physical systems, and system integration technologies. The R&D actors are represented by the associations AENEAS, ARTEMISIA and EPoSS.
