A French delegation of representatives of research and technology, led by Yannick Neuder, Vice-President of the Auvergne-Rhône- Alpes region with responsibility for universities, research, innovation, and European funding, visited Dresden, the capital of the state of Saxony, in March. The purpose of the trip was to discuss with representatives of the state government of Saxony and of the regional microelectronics community how to intensify the existing cooperation and increase the funding opportunities. The common goal is to link the corresponding regional Digital Innovation Hubs “Minismart” (Auvergne- Rhône-Alpes) and “Smart SystemsHub – enabling IoT” (Saxony) better.

Oliver Schenk, Saxony’s Minister of State for Federal and European Affairs and Head of the State Chancellery, and Prof. Hubert Lakner, Executive Director of Fraunhofer IPMS in Dresden representing the Function Integration for Micro-/Nanoelectronics Performance Center, welcomed the French guests. The visit, which began in the Saxon State Chancellery, also included tours of microelectronics production sites in Dresden and vicinity. Together with the two government representatives, the managing director of Smart Systems Hub GmbH, Michael Kaiser, the head of the French research institute CEA-Leti, Dr. Emmanuel Sabonnadière, and Prof. Hubert Lakner signed a memorandum of understanding to promote links between the respective regional Digital Innovation Hubs. Measures were agreed on to improve cross-border research and development services for the microelectronics industry in France and Germany.

The memorandum of understanding supports the implementation of the Franco- German agreement between Fraunhofer and Leti to jointly strengthen key technologies in the field of microelectronics. The underlying cooperation agreement was already signed in June 2018 as part of the Sixth Franco-German Research Forum in Berlin.