5-minute read - By Peter Wennink, September 5, 2022
At the opening of the academic year of the Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e), ASML’s CEO Peter Wennink, European Commissioner Thierry Breton, and the Dutch Minister of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy Micky Adriaansens spoke about contributing to Europe’s technological sovereignty and the strategic importance of the chip industry. The following is an excerpt from Peter Wennink’s speech.
The year 2022 marks a special anniversary in the history of technology. Exactly 75 years ago, scientists at Bell Labs created the first working transistor. I say ‘working’, because the idea of a transistor was already documented long before that in the 1920s, but nobody back then had the faintest idea of how to make such a device. It was only through the commitment of Bell Labs to more than 20 years of R&D, their vast melting pot of scientific and engineering expertise, and an incredible amount of trial and error that scientists John Bardeen and Walter Brattain finally pulled it off in 1947. Just a decade later, a young engineer named Gordon Moore co-founded Fairchild Semiconductor, the world’s first commercial chipmaker. As engineers learned how to miniaturize transistors on silicon, Moore famously observed that the number of transistors on a chip would double every year. ‘Moore’s Law’ became an economic driver and innovation catalyst for the nascent chip industry.
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Chip industry thrust into the limelight
For many years, the chip industry and its key players have remained unknown to the general public. Those days of flying under the radar are over, and the reason is similar to that behind the 1970s oil crisis. Oil was always easy to come by until it wasn't. As a result, it became a strategic commodity. Chips were always readily available until they weren't in 2020. Now, chips are also considered a strategic commodity. Around the world, people are starting to understand the complex and interconnected industry that mass-produces chips – one that acts seamlessly without borders.
The realization that chips are a strategic commodity has also impacted the geopolitical landscape. Governments are seeking to decrease single-sided industrial dependencies and strive for open strategic autonomy. So whether it’s the US, Europe or Asia: world economies are now looking to create chip manufacturing capabilities on their own shores. Technological sovereignty is the aim. From the perspective of risk mitigation, that is understandable. But what is the key to sovereignty in an industry that is as mind-bogglingly complex and globally interconnected as the chip industry?
There can be no technological sovereignty without deep, global collaboration
Breakthroughs in the chip industry are the result of the systemic integration of knowledge and competences across a seamless global network. That network is built on technological extremes, mastered by only a handful of companies. To work towards technological sovereignty, we need to create a global network of mutual dependencies based on strong local relevance. That dependency should not be a problem as long as it’s shared, because when you depend on others, others also depend on you. It’s true: powerful partnerships are not founded on power, but on capability, trust, transparency, reliability and a fair sharing of risks and rewards.
