Feedback on the proposal for a European Chips Act
CSC recognises the vital importance of semiconductor chips for digital economy as well as the need to take action to ensure their availability in Europe. Therefore, we welcome the Commission’s proposal for a European Chips Act and, in particular, its emphasis on research and skills as these are the most crucial elements of sustainable future prosperity and technological leadership for Europe.
While the emphasis on chips is welcome and appropriate, it should not draw too much attention or resources away from the development of other key technologies. Investments towards other technologies, such as High-Performance Computing, quantum, AI and data infrastructures, must remain on an adequate level despite any reallocations of HE and DEP funding.
The different technologies must be developed in convergence, as an interoperable ecosystem, because digital economy is horizontal and will not function in silos. In addition, Europe must focus also on the people, skills and competences that are needed in leveraging all technologies, as well as the field-specific, end-user centric services that need to be developed as an integral part of the technologies, in order to get added value out of them.
When investing in chips or any other cutting-edge technologies, it must be kept in mind that the rapid evolution of such technologies requires long-term investment plans in order to make sure that European RDI can keep up with global competition in the long run. The level of investments must also be sufficient to match the ambitions of the competitors.
Finally, CSC wants to remind about the importance of a coherent European regulatory framework, that has more of an enabling than restricting impact on innovation and development of digital economy. Thus, all parallel initiatives must be reviewed, and possible legal barriers or inconsistencies systematically removed.