UK semiconductor industry urges the Government to do more

Photo by Vishnu Mohanan on Unsplash

The Semiconductor Leadership Group consists of executives from across the UK semiconductor industry and is supported by the Techworks Deep Tech Trade Association. It was created to identify and promote the strengths and opportunities which face the UK semiconductor sector and to support the Government by providing expert advice and recommendations to inform policy which can deliver the most positive impact. The group is chaired by Techworks CEO Charles Sturman and includes executives from leading Tech firms including Bourns, McClaren, Paragraf, Plessey, Pragmatic and XMOS.

The group published a paper last month which welcomes the UK Government Semiconductor Strategy as an important initiative to boost this strategically important sector, but urges the Government to work more closely with industry in defining a set of policies which will help to build a long-term sustainable and successful ecosystem across each element of the value chain from research, innovation and design to product engineering, manufacturing and end-market consumption. The paper outlines a number of support measures and highlights key issues which it says need to be addressed to achieve the UK’s true potential.

Help to compete on the global stage
Today, all major technology trends are underpinned by semiconductor devices: artificial intelligence (AI), future telecommunications, quantum technologies, space, ‘net zero’, extended reality and the metaverse. Globally, the semiconductor device market will be worth more than $1 trillion by 2030. In the UK, there are hundreds of companies engaged in the sector, but many need help to compete on the global stage.

Charles Sturman, chair of the Techworks Semiconductor Leadership Group, said: “We built this group at the request of industry to enable cross-sector debate and discussion and to present a unified voice. As a group, we welcome the Government’s attention to the semiconductor industry and the recently published strategy.”

However, the focus on early-stage innovation, design and IP creation only addresses a subset of the industry and more support is still required to grow a vibrant ecosystem with a critical mass of UK know-how, talent and cross-industry collaboration.

Around the world, no country has built a semiconductor sector of any strength without Government support. We believe that there is a unique opportunity for the UK to build a semiconductor industry which competes on a global scale and delivers real value to the UK economy. However, this requires ongoing discussion between industry and Government and a long-term view of how to achieve our goals.”

To find out more about the Techworks Semiconductor Leadership Group and download the paper please visit the Techworks website.