CAMBRIDGE, England, June 2, 2008 – Exhibitors and organisers are urging everyone involved in the electronics sector to support National Electronics Week (NEW) (www.nationalelectronicsweek.co.uk), the UK’s premier electronics industry exhibition, which holds its inaugural event at London’s Earls Court from 17-19 June 2008.
More than 300 UK-based companies and trade associations have signed up for the show – including Aeroflex, AFDEC, Agilent Technologies, BAE Systems, the Electronics Knowledge Transfer Network (E-KTN), Fuji, Intellect, the IPC, National Instruments, Pace Europe, Panasonic and Samsung.
NEW was conceived to provide an event that showcases every aspect of today’s electronics market including the latest innovations in electronic design, silicon, hardware systems, software design, components, test tools, assembly equipment, production systems, contract manufacturing services and distribution. NEW also features seminars and workshops from Advanced Rework Technology, the E-KTN, Intellect, the IPC and UKEA, a live brokerage area from UKTI, two interactive production lines to demonstrate leading-edge technologies in action, and a whole host of other activities for visitors.
Ian Bell, director of marketing at National Instruments, provider of software and hardware tools for test, control and embedded design, believes that the organisers have listened to feedback from the market and have put together an event which is far more than a showcase of products and services, it is a major networking opportunity, a place to interact face-to-face and cross-fertilise with peers in the industry.
“The UK has a vibrant electronics industry and a worldwide reputation for designing, prototyping and producing seriously innovative electronics products, and it is also home to around half of Europe’s fabless semiconductor companies,” said Ian Bell. “To maintain our competitiveness and skills base, it is important that UK-based companies, trade associations, government agencies and universities work together in partnership. NEW provides the forum to showcase our considerable talents and to forge such partnerships.”
Peter Towler, business development manager at Briton EMS, also urges the UK electronics sector to support National Electronics Week and thinks that having a single event covering the whole electronics supply chain, rather than lots of niche shows, is a more cost-effective approach for exhibitors.
“We are excited as this is the first time for a decade that the UK has had a single identifiable meeting point for the whole electronics industry,” enthused Peter Towler. “Like other successful contract manufacturers, Briton EMS offers a broad range of product lifecycle services including fast turnaround prototyping and NPI, so we are delighted to see that NEW has a strong design thread to it and is much more than just a production equipment show.”
Simon Payne, CEO of boundary scan test specialists XJTAG, who has agreed to sponsor NEW until 2010, said: “The UK electronics industry is the fifth largest in the world yet we lack a single international event in the UK at which to showcase our considerable talents. It would be great for our global competitiveness to have a dedicated event that attracted tens of thousands of visitors to our shores and provided a dynamic environment for networking and for cross-fertilisation of ideas across different disciplines which so often fuels true innovation. However, that won’t happen unless the rally cry to visitors to attend this inaugural event is heard and acted upon by the electronics fraternity across the UK.”
Henry Parker, electronics programme manager at Intellect, the UK trade association for the electronics, IT and telecoms industries, said: “As an industry we must work together to draw attention to the positive and growing contribution we make to the economy. If we fail to do so, we risk losing the gains we have made in the past few years and instead face the prospect of our sector disappearing entirely from the UK. We believe that National Electronics Week will help to reinforce the reality that electronics is a still a vibrant, innovative and above all increasingly successful element of the UK economy as a whole.”
Claire Jeffreys, event director for National Electronics Week, said: “National Electronics Week aims to bring the whole electronics industry together which is of vital importance in drawing attention to the value of the electronics sector to the UK economy. We urge everyone to come along to the event, celebrate our world class capabilities and put the UK electronics industry back on the map!”
For more information about visiting National Electronics Week, visit www.nationalelectronicsweek.co.uk.
Photography to accompany this news release
