Your call for a champion for the UK electronics industry (Comment, NE, 22 May – see forward.pdf) is well recognised and important.
As chairman of the UK Electronics Alliance (UKEA) and chief executive of the National Microelectronics Institute (NMI), I can say that both organisations are already doing much to align the UK's wider electronics community and to provide leadership.
It is incumbent upon the UKEA to successfully represent the industry, with all that entails. The UKEA – composed of 10 trade associations – represents a broad spectrum of electronics activity. It is committed to raising the profile of the industry and to tackle the issues faced by our electronics and high tech sectors.
Two other organisations will have a significant impact. Firstly, the Electronics Leadership Council (ELC) – genuine industry leaders and incredibly busy people who are volunteering their time and commitment for the greater good.
The UKEA will work with the ELC to ensure it is in tune with the key messages coming from the Trade Associations, who speak for the community as a whole. As UKEA chair, I will commit resource to support the ELC's fact finding and evidence gathering. Together, we will continue to deliver powerful messages that support our community.
The first of these messages was for the Government to invest in an Electronics Knowledge Transfer Network (EKTN). As a sign of growing influence, this is about to spring into action. The EKTN, in partnership with the trade associations and key stakeholders, can build a network that provides competitive advantage to UK companies.
And there's the NMI, which now comprises more than 100 companies involved in semiconductor design and manufacturing – from early stage start ups to global IDMs.
The NMI's primary objective is to 'Build the community and unite the industry'. Why this goal? Over the years, the industry has become splintered and the NMI's early work centred on rebuilding the industry's foundation. It is now moving forward and looking at ways to unite the various semiconductor communities.
I'm also acutely aware that each member (of any trade association) must see specific value in order to justify continued membership. As a result, it is incumbent upon us to deliver a portfolio of products and services that create value to achieve greater mass.
However, electronics is far bigger than the semiconductor sector and that's why I'm delighted and privileged to chair the UKEA – a key recommendation from the EIGT Report – and its formation has been supported financially by the DTI, with whom we are now developing a critical and real understanding.
My message is that NMI and our partner trade associations in the UKEA are committed to supporting the industry as a whole.
Our high technology industry is undervalued by Government and this must change. Government must recognise this, but it's also incumbent upon every UK stakeholder to realise they are undermining their future by not engaging with the very bodies that are there to represent them. Join your relevant trade association, engage with the KTN and play your part in making the industry even stronger!
Derek Boyd
chairman, UKEA, chief executive, NMI
