Semiconductors, all about the new Chips.It Foundation in Pavia
Here are the facts, objectives and companies participating in the Chips.It Foundation in Pavia, the new Italian center for semiconductor design. Will there be a Huawei case?
Last Friday, the new Italian Center for the design of semiconductor integrated circuits, abbreviated to Chips.IT Foundation, was presented in Pavia, which the government defined as "a fundamental piece of the new Italian strategy for microelectronics". Present at the presentation event were ministers Adolfo Urso (Business), Giancarlo Giorgetti (Economy) and Anna Maria Bernini (University).
WHAT THE CHIPS.IT FOUNDATION WILL DO
The Chips.IT Foundation will mainly deal with the planning – or design – of microchips , i.e. the initial link in the value chain of these devices, which also includes their manufacturing, packaging and testing.
The center will play a role in coordinating microchip research and design activities with both public and private entities, making "latest generation equipment and software" available to them. The Chips.IT Foundation also wants to be a Competence Centre , that is, a training center for the new generations of workers in the sector.
URSO'S WORDS
Minister Urso defined the birth of the Chips.IT Foundation as "a fundamental stage in a broader national strategy in the semiconductor sector, which is strategic for the Italian economy both from a national and geopolitical perspective": microchips are crucial components for many sectors – from automotive to artificial intelligence to defense – but their production is concentrated in Asia, while the design technologies are mainly American.
“We want to support Italian companies and attract investments from abroad into our country, which is increasingly creating an important ecosystem in the sector,” added Urso. The government would like to stimulate the development of an Italian semiconductor supply chain through a Chips Act on the European model . For example, STMicroelectronics (an Italian-French electronics company owned by the Ministry of Economy) will invest 730 million euros in Catania, supported by a public contribution of 292 million.
WHY IN PAVIA
The choice of Pavia as the headquarters of the foundation is therefore linked to the presence of an important university – the University of Pavia, in fact -, which in May 2022 announced the creation of a microelectronics district. That is, a partnership between the institute and twelve electronic component companies present in the Pavia province and in the southern area of Milan: Allegro Microsystems, ams-OSRAM, Analog Devices, ASR Microelectronics, Huawei Technologies, Infineon Technologies, Invensense, INVENTVM Semiconductors, Marvell , Photeon Technologies, Synopsys, STMicroelectronics.
“The local companies”, explained the University of Pavia in a press release, “employ over 500 highly specialized engineers, 25% of whom have PhDs. Approximately 40% of employed engineers have obtained a degree and/or PhD from the University of Pavia. Foreign companies based in Italy are largely the result of entrepreneurial initiatives by students trained at the University of Pavia. The interaction between universities and companies is strong, unique in its kind on the national and European scene".
The Microelectronics District is managed by a coordination committee made up of a representative from each partner company. The representative of the University of Pavia is Professor Andrea Mazzanti.
THE COMPANIES THAT PARTICIPATE IN THE CHIPS.IT FOUNDATION
Among the companies that, to date, have made it known that they are interested in participating in the activities of the Chips.IT Foundation there are Analog Devices, Infineon, Intel, Inventvm, NXP, PSMC, SONY and STMicroelectronics.
HUAWEI IS MISSING?
It is notable that the Chinese company Huawei does not appear in the list – perhaps not complete – provided by the Ministry of Business, against which several European states have imposed restrictions on equipment for 5G networks . These restrictions are motivated by security fears over Huawei's alleged ties to Beijing's military.
Italy has not explicitly banned Huawei components, but in 2020 it prevented the telephone operator Fastweb from signing an agreement with Huawei for the supply of equipment for the 5G network.
Huawei had joined the Microelectronics District of the University of Pavia.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/innovazione/fondazione-chips-it-pavia/ on Mon, 06 Nov 2023 08:46:56 +0000.