On October the 10th and 11th Silicon Saxony attended a Finish-Dutch Company Mission, taking place directly in the heart of the local semiconductor R&D center Micronova in Espoo (Helsinki).  This event, aiming on fostering the business cooperation of Dutch and finish companies, was organized by the EEN and the Dutch chamber of commerce with kind assistance of the BCS, VTT and DIMECC. The participation of Silicon Saxony is a direct result from established cooperation channels within the Silicon Europe Alliance.

Silicon Saxony presented on the first day its High-Tech Network and the benefits for their members as well as its services. The range of attending companies reached from innovative finish Start-Ups and Spin-offs from the local R&D institutes over SMEs to global acting international large enterprises like NXP. Competences and technologies like silicon micro processing, innovative MEMS, packaging technologies as well as equipment for several kinds of processing were highlighted during the company presentations. During the brakes and at the reception at the Ambassador of the Netherland’s Residence in Helsinki, networking took place and fruitful discussions showed promising future collaborations. The second day was marked by information about open EU calls, business opportunities, services and support from the EEN and the embassy of The Netherlands.

The main conclusion for Silicon Saxony from these two days: Finland’s entrepreneurship and R&D&I efforts in Semiconductor and ICT technology is still remarkable, despite the disappearance of Nokia as a global player. Silicon Saxony itself plans to establish a similar Company Mission between Saxony and Finland and of course will also further work on existing cooperation with the Dutch partners.