Advanced Instrumentation Roadmap enthusiastically received
On 3 June ing. Amandus Lundqvist, figurehead of the Top Sector High-Tech Systems and Materials (HTSM) received the Advanced Instrumentation Roadmap in the presence of companies and knowledge institutions at the Bioscience Park Leiden. The joint challenges as well as the opportunities and ambitions across the full spectrum of the high-tech instrument field were highlighted. Lundqvist spoke of a unique event: "The Netherlands is strong because industry and scientific institutes trust each other, work together in a range of partnerships and disciplines, and are prepared to express wishes and exchange knowledge with each other in an open innovation model. This roadmap will result in groundbreaking technologies."
Various speakers from both SMEs and large companies expressed their enthusiasm for how the collaboration within this discipline can enable their company to develop and grow. The economic importance of this roadmap is considerable, as witnessed by the strong support for it from the industrial representatives present. Their knowledge, expertise and effectiveness will contribute to the success of the sector. Dr. Roland van Vliet (TNO) stated that the intensive cross-fertilisation between Big Science and companies could result in the sector doubling its turnover within a period of three years. "Advanced instrumentation is a textbook example of how the top sector policy should work and as such provides a good starting point for other sectors," said Van Vliet. Not only has the process of compiling the roadmap strengthened the relationships between companies and academic institutions but it has already resulted in more and improved contacts between different companies.
In December 2012, TNO and several NWO institutes took the initiative to realise the Advanced Instrumentation Roadmap. This covers instruments and infrastructure for large scientific projects at the national and international level, such as CERN, ESA, ESO, ITER, SKA, but also high-end instruments for scientific, analytical and medical applications, as equally high-tech production equipment.
On the advice of the HTSM Top Team, a process was subsequently started in which industry was allocated a larger, directive role in the elaboration of the roadmap. Representatives from fifty large and small companies contributed to the development of the plans by discussions at 'knowledge tables' together with representatives from universities and knowledge institutions. Dr. Marco Beijersbergen, owner of Cosine Research BV and chair of the Advanced Instrumentation Roadmap team, noted that for companies it is very important to be involved in scientific developments right from the start. The Advanced Instrumentation Roadmap was therefore realised with an industry-driven blueprint for those aspects in companies that science can contribute to. Beijersbergen emphasised that many companies, both SMEs and multinationals, are now working alongside each other. "This roadmap can bring them together in consortia. Now it is important to get things up and running quickly so that innovation can rapidly be realised."
More than fifty companies have expressed an interest in participating in the programmes of the Advanced Instrumentation Roadmap. The HTSM Top Sector team has now enthusiastically received the roadmap. After the roadmap has been officially included in the Top Sector HTSM this summer a start can be made on elaborating the programmes.