ESCO
Electronic Systems
Challenges & Opportunities
ESCO
Electronic Systems
Challenges & Opportunities
ESCO
Electronic Systems
Challenges & Opportunities
Electronic Systems
A plan for growth:
One year on
September 2014
ESCO Council
Warren East CBE
ESCO Co-Chairman
Sir Hossein Yassaie
Indro Mukerjee
Juergen Maier
Iain Gray
Stephen Pattison
Graeme Hobbs
Keith Williams
Joe WilLson
Derek Boyd
Peter Brooks
Julian David
Graeme Philp
Imagination Technologies
Innovate UK
Altran
Intelligent Systems
NMI
techUK
Sarah Macken
ESCO Chief Executive
2
Electronic Systems – a plan for growth; one year on
Plastic Logic
ARM
Emerson
Process Management
Electronics Yorkshire
Gambica
Siemens
Motorola Solutions
The ESCO Council is jointly chaired by Industry and Government and
Council members are invited to join the Council because of the contribution
that they can make to the work of ESCO as opposed to representing a
particular group or company.
The Council has defined three core objectives that are being delivered
through six workstreams.
ESCO Objectives to be delivered by 2020
1.
Grow UK
industry’s GDP to
7.1% from
5.4%
2.
Increase
the number of
employees to 1m
from 850,000
3.
Develop the
UK as a centre for
Electronic Systems
innovation
ESCO GDP and employment growth objectives
priority future markets
Internet of
things
Healthcare
Robotics &
Autonomous
Systems
Industrial
Automation
(Industry 4.0)
Skills
competitive
enablers
Technology
September 2014
3
Contents
Foreword5
1.Executive Summary
7
2. UK in the driving seat on Internet of Things (IoT)
9
3. Transforming healthcare delivery
and patient care through technology
11
4. Industrial Automation, bringing manufacturing
back to UK shores
13
5. Electronic Systems, the bedrock technology for
Robotics and Autonomous Systems
15
6. Growing electronic systems
employment to 1,000,000 by 2020
17
7. Technology development for growth in
electronic systems
19
8. Appendix 1: ESCO Executive
21
“the spirit of collaboration
that ESCO fosters is already
starting to show results.”
4
Electronic Systems – a plan for growth; one year on
Foreword
Warren East CBE
esco
Co-Chairman
The Electronic Systems Council (ESCO) has been meeting for just one year.
In that time we have set ourselves ambitious goals to grow sector GDP and
raise employment in our industry. We have established six workstreams
which are focused on those areas where we believe we can make
significant progress to deliver on those growth objectives.
At ESCO we have started to bang the drum for the sector. There are
challenges to overcome and it is of course necessary to carry on doing
business as well. I am personally extremely grateful to our Council,
Executive and Trade Associations who have all so willingly contributed over
the last year.
Electronic Systems is a fast moving sector with a growing public interest
and awareness in the end use technology that we all contribute to. There
is a heightened interest in the technological revolutions that are coming
with driverless cars never more talked about, the Internet of Things, mobile
health and robots rarely out of the news and industrial automation likely to
change the face of manufacturing the world over.
As this report shows, the spirit of collaboration that ESCO fosters is
already starting to show results. During the second year of ESCO we
plan to consolidate on achievements made and accelerate our activity
across the six key work areas. In particular we will continue to stimulate
real partnership between government and industry to both enhance the
global competitiveness of UK technology and ensure technology from our
Electronic Systems companies is central to UK deployment in areas like
the Internet of Things, utilization of technology in healthcare and efforts to
generate more high value manufacture here in the UK. There is much more
to do in the year ahead and we need your help to do it, so take a look and
see where you can get involved.
But there is much less public awareness about the businesses behind
many of these emergent technologies. Yes, our successful electronic
systems companies, here in the UK, are already working on those new
systems and designs that will be crucial to enabling future technologies.
Raising the profile of our sector is essential if we are going to attract the
brightest and the best into the industry on the scale that is needed to meet
future growth projections. It is also crucial to attracting investment from
private financiers and Venture Capitalists that they understand the nature
of emerging markets in areas like the Internet of Things, the Future Factory
Concept and Intelligent Mobility. These new markets present great future
opportunities for UK companies prepared to commit to innovation and
excellence.
We of course also can’t forget the important role that public sector
procurement plays in unleashing new technology that can have much wider
applications. The Healthcare sector is one such area where ESCO sees an
opportunity for procurement agencies to benefit from being more receptive
to new technology that both improves patient care and reduces overall
healthcare cost.
One thing that I am in no doubt about, is that the global electronic systems
marketplace is set to grow considerably in the years ahead. The UK is
well positioned to supply into those new and emerging markets and with
the collaboration that ESCO enables, let us hope that this is on a scale
that delivers far greater UK growth and exciting career opportunities for
generations to come.
Warren East CBE
ESCO Co-chairman
September 2014
5
“This is the first ESCO Annual
Report and provides a synopsis
of activities that fall under
the ESCO umbrella.”
6
Electronic Systems – a plan for growth; one year on
1. Executive Summary
Sarah Macken
ESCO
Chief Executive
ESCO was launched in June 2013 with the publication of a report setting
out the size and scale of the UK electronic systems sector and a vision for
the future.
It put electronic systems on the map by describing the significant economic
contribution of the industry accounting for 5.4% of GDP and employing
850,000 people.
Following the report launch a joint Industry Government Council, the
Electronic Systems Council, was formed with the goal of developing and
driving forward a common agenda that would:
•Build recognition of the sector as a key enabling technology crucial to the
success of many other parts of the economy.
•Increase the number of Electronic Systems employees by 150,000, to
1,000,000
•Raise the economic contribution of Electronic Systems to £120bn or
7.1% of GDP (up from £80bn or 5.4% GDP)
The Council held its first meeting in September 2013 and joint Chairmen,
Warren East CBE and Rt Hon Michael Fallon MP were appointed. Senior
level support from industry and Government underlined the partnership
that ESCO fosters.
The Council is made up of Industry Leaders from Altran, ARM, Emerson,
Imagination Technologies, Motorola Solutions, Plastic Logic, Siemens,
Innovate UK and three trade Associations (GAMBICA, NMI and techUK) who
have all contributed their time and energy to developing and progressing a
joint agenda over the last year.
The ESCO Executive, which comprises the leading trade associations in the
electronic systems sector provides a forum for the wider electronic systems
community to address common issues and share ideas to advance the
interests of UK companies.
This report sets out some of the progress that has been made in that time
and provides a forward view on the year ahead.
Some of the highlights include:
•Building the first UK Industry 4.0 demonstrator, based at the
Manufacturing Technology Centre, which is the culmination of work by
the Industrial Automation workstream. This initiative provides a practical
platform for UK Electronic Systems companies to advance new technology
that will win business supplying future factories and process plants.
•Consolidating the success of the UK Electronic Skills Foundation (UKESF)
a unique public, private partnership which provides work placements
and bursaries for Electrical and Electronic Engineering under-graduates.
In addition to producing a comprehensive analysis of the current and
future skills needs of the sector and an Electronic Systems application
to develop an apprenticeship scheme for the sector as part of the
Government’s Trailblazer programme.
•Barriers to the uptake of technology in the health service have been
identified and work is underway to explore with a cross section of
stakeholders from clinicians, NHS England and a continuing cross
Government dialogue on how those barriers can be overcome.
•Prime Ministerial acknowledgement of the importance of the Internet
of Things as an emerging market in which the UK can play a leadership
role. ESCO has been helping to inform the work of the Government’s
Chief Scientific Adviser Sir Mark Walport on this subject.
•Intelligent mobility and reshaping the future of our transport
infrastructure also offers significant opportunities for UK electronic
systems. Work is underway to advance an automotive-demonstrator that
provides an opportunity for UK companies to test how electronic systems
interact with transport infrastructure exploring the technology required to
develop driverless cars in the UK.
•ESCO has also helped to shape funding applications in other sectors
where electronic systems have an important role to play, for example the
bid for continuing work on the ASTRAEA1 programme.
•Establishing a technology working group that is scoping out the future
technology requirements that enable UK companies to get ahead.
This is the first ESCO Annual Report and provides a synopsis of activities
that fall under the ESCO umbrella. It is far from a complete picture of
everything that is happening in the industry.
The report focuses on the areas that the ESCO Council has highlighted as
priority areas for collaboration and where progress needs to be advanced.
The report is comprised of sections from each ESCO workstream and the
ESCO Executive.
We are continually grateful for the efforts that people in the sector make,
and would welcome wider involvement from people within the sector.
Anyone interested in contributing to ESCO’s work should contact Sarah
Macken via www.esco.org.uk
1
Autonomous Systems Technology Related Airborne Evaluation & Assessment
September 2014
7
“Electronic Systems
are a key enabling
technology for IoT.”
8
Electronic Systems – a plan for growth; one year on
2. UK in the driving seat
on Internet of Things
(IoT)
The Internet of Things revolution is on its way and the economic prize is
starting to be imagined with comparisons of the future size of this market
starting to emerge.
Cisco has undertaken analysis that suggests IoT could generate $4.6
trillion for the public sector and $14.4 trillion for the private sector globally
over the next decade. Whilst research firm IDC estimates that, in 2020,
over 40 percent of all data in the world will be data resulting from Machine
to Machine technology. Meanwhile Arup estimates that the global market
for Smart Cities applications alone could generate $400 billion globally per
annum by 2020, and that the UK could stand to gain a 10% share of that
market.
Electronic Systems are a key enabling technology for IoT, offering real
potential to grow a substantial industry with significant export potential.
Over the last year, ESCO has been encouraging the British Government to
help stimulate the take up of IoT in the UK.
A big success for ESCO was the Prime Minister’s speech at CEBIT in March
2014 where he echoed our call to see the UK become a world leader in this
area. To propel this work forward the Government’s Chief Scientific Adviser,
Sir Mark Walport, has been asked to look in detail at what Government can
do and ESCO has contributed to his consultations.
ESCO Internet of Things Sponsor
Stephen Pattison
ARM
•In addition we have held discussions on IoT with our Chairman at the
time, Rt Hon Michael Fallon MP, who had responsibility for Electronic
Systems. Recently, we have seen a new Minister, Ed Vaizey MP,
appointed as Minister for Digital and Joanna Shields appointed as Digital
Adviser to the Prime Minister, a further sign of the importance that the
Government places on this emerging new market.
ESCO is only as good as companies interested in this sector enable us to
be. We have worked so far with a small group of companies – and others
- keen to drive our engagement forward. There are some great companies
operating in the IoT space in the UK. We hope they too will want to support
ESCO’s activities in this area as we go forward.
Over the next year ESCO’s IoT activities will focus on:
•Continuing to engage with Government on the steps that will help IoT
grow in the UK and building on the results of Sir Mark Walport’s review.
•Informing the Government’s science and research strategies and
Ofcom’s activities on spectrum to ensure that they recognise the
potential of IoT as a market and in particular the potential opportunity for
UK electronic systems companies in that area.
•Pressing UKTI to do more to showcase UK expertise in this area in its
Trade Promotion Campaigns in overseas markets.
We have been careful to elaborate positions which seek to explore ways in
which Government can use low cost policy levers to get IoT moving.
This includes, for example:
•Encouraging Ofcom2 to explore which parts of the spectrum can be made
available for IoT. Ofcom has a good record in this area, and this year
has taken two important decisions, one on testing so called white space
technology and another on exploring setting aside specific bandwidth for
IoT.
•In addition, we have pressed the Government to help budget a change in
the NHS culture to foster greater openness to remote health monitoring,
and a climate where companies and the NHS can work together to help
develop affordable systems. This will be an important part of meeting
the health needs of an older population.
•We are also building the evidence base on the benefits of encouraging
energy savings through IoT applications, for example by building on the
smart meter programme to improve the chances of new meters being
used effectively to help remote energy management.
•Smart Cities is another area rich for IoT. We have visited Glasgow to look
at how their smart city pilot project is going and have urged government
to do more to incentivise cities to get smart. We have in particular
emphasised the important role of smart street lighting and using
streetlights as the backbone of a wireless system, can play in helping
cities start down the smart path.
2
Independent regulator and competition authority for the UK communications industries.
September 2014
9
“There is substantial evidence to
show that the electronic systems
industry is delivering real term
benefits in the health and social
care sector.”
10
Electronic Systems – a plan for growth; one year on
3. Transforming
healthcare delivery
and patient care
through technology
The NHS is under pressure to respond to ever-rising demand on services
in primary, secondary and tertiary care. This trend is set to continue
as people live for longer and the age profile of the population changes
over time.
At the same time healthcare providers continue to grapple with delivering
the Quality, Innovation, Productivity and Prevention (QIPP) agenda and the
need to find £20 billion of efficiency savings by 2015.
With pressures on public spending set to continue for many years there is
a real need to invest in healthcare solutions that can be delivered at scale,
with minimum cost to the taxpayer, whilst also offering the patient safe,
effective and convenient advice and care. At the same time, the NHS could
make step change improvements in performance at both the operational
level and the quality of service delivered at the point of care through
quicker adoption of new technologies.
Innovation in the electronics industry, especially in assisted living, is
delivering real benefits to both the patient and healthcare professional,
and can help address the challenges facing the NHS today, but only if it is
delivered at scale. This requires a change in how the NHS procures and
implements innovation.
A common complaint reported by technology companies engaged in
this market, is that it is very difficult to sell or deliver new technology or
innovations into NHS Trusts. A consequence of this is that these innovative
companies look to other markets such as the US to develop their product,
or alternatively adapt the technology for consumer market purposes. This is
a missed opportunity for the NHS to take advantage of emerging technology
that could deliver both cost savings and improvements in patient care.
The barriers to entry appear to be wide ranging and complex, but
particularly seem to disadvantage the innovative start-ups and SMEs.
Over the last year, ESCO has been exploring the challenges and
opportunities faced by UK based electronic systems companies in
addressing the marketplace. It also included a set of recommendations for
further action to address these issues.
ESCO Healthcare Sponsor
Tony King-Smith
Imagination Technologies
ESCO Healthcare Lead
Natalie Bateman
techUK
Addressing some of the difficulties around the procurement of technology
in the NHS is an important challenge to overcome and as a result techUK
is exploring the idea of a platform to help NHS buyers identify and engage
with suppliers based on service delivery requirements. It will provide a
service that will encourage a more vibrant and open technology market in
the NHS. It will ensure that NHS buyers are equipped with the information
they need to navigate the supplier market, build connections with the
relevant companies and identify the products and services that best suit
their needs. It will also ensure that suppliers can invest time, resource and
money into business opportunities that are appropriate for them and their
offering.
There is substantial evidence to show that the electronic systems industry
is delivering real term benefits in the health and social care sector.
However, for the NHS to attain the improvements in service delivery,
productivity and meet the budgetary goals set by Government, the situation
must change to take advantage of innovative technologies available in the
market and the electronic systems community is keen to play its part.
During the year we have met with the Office for Life Sciences which has
have responsibility for championing biotechnology and the pharmaceutical
and medical technology industries in the UK, to explore the opportunities to
improve health service delivery in the med-tech and e-health arena.
techUK has also held a workshop that brought together clinicians,
technology companies and procurement specialists to identify some of the
key initiatives barriers to technology uptake within the sector. The findings
of this workshop will be tested amongst the wider ESCO community and
will form the basis of further activity in this area.
Over the next year ESCO’s healthcare workstream will:
•work to improve market access for technology companies in the health
and social care sector.
•develop a pragmatic action plan which will provide recommendations
on how Government, NHS and the electronic systems industry can work
together to address barriers that prevent the uptake of technologies that
improve healthcare delivery.
September 2014
11
“The vision is to create highly
automated, super-connected,
flexible factories.”
12
Electronic Systems – a plan for growth; one year on
4. Industrial Automation,
bringing
manufacturing
back to UK shores
Manufacturing is enjoying a renaissance in the UK. With companies
bringing back production into their UK facilities and of public and
government recognition that fundamental wealth creation through
manufacturing is key to creating a durable, balanced economy. It is
also critical to employment through higher level technical roles and a
strengthened local supply chain. This offers real opportunities for UK
electronic systems companies, as automation will play a larger part
in manufacturing due to reasons such as complexity, miniaturisation,
consistency of quality, and flexibility.
ESCO
Industrial Automation Sponsor
Juergen Maier
Siemens
ESCO
Industrial Automation Lead
Graeme Philp
GAMBICA
Industry 4.0 describes a new future for manufacturing industry, based
on technological developments in automation together with broader
developments in the Internet of Things and Big Data. It will enable
high wage economies, such as the UK, to compete on level terms with
economies that have historically been outsourcing locations of choice for
manufacturing. Bringing back manufacturing processes to our shores will
bring new jobs and improve energy efficiency through the reduction of
product miles.
In the 21st century manufacturing is much less about creating factory
jobs and much more about creating higher level, more technical roles and
strengthening the local supply chain.
Figure 1: The Industry 4.0 supply chain
The Industrial Automation workstream sees the transformation in
manufacturing as delivering real opportunities for UK electronic systems.
The vision is to create highly automated, super-connected, flexible
factories, located close to their local market, feeding off a local supply
chain to increase flexibility and reduce inventory which makes products to
order with the products themselves communicating with the machines that
make them about the options they require (see image below).
supplier
‘smart factory’
‘smart services’
optimisation:
product, process,
supply chain
‘smart
products’
intelligence flows back
trusted cloud-based networks
visualisation,
MMI
extraction and
storage of data
‘big data systems’
decision support
realtime data analysis
and data fusion
‘smart data’
source: Professor Henning Kagermann’s presentation
“How Industrie 4.0 Will Coin the Economy of the Future”,
4th February 2014
new insight
new business
September 2014
13
The manufacturing machines themselves work out the most effective order
in which to make the day’s production and turn off unnecessary machines
to save energy. Important aspects of the build process and of the product’s
post-production life are sent wirelessly to the Cloud to be retrieved if
required to help with traceability, design improvement and the efficacy of
any subsequent product recalls.
Very little inventory is generated as products are manufactured on a
quasi as-required basis, meaning that design updates and new product
introduction can be handled much more easily with hardly any obsolescent
products left in the supply chain.
This vision for the future of manufacturing is recognised around the world
where it is given various names, but in Europe and the UK, it is known as
Industry 4.0, signifying that this has the potential to be the fourth industrial
revolution (after steam, electricity and computers). The technologies
behind this vision are known as Cyber Physical Systems and are part of the
wider Internet of Things revolution.
The ESCO Industrial Automation work-stream is focused on highlighting the
UK potential benefits of Industry 4.0 and helping producers and users to
adopt the technology as rapidly as possible.
14
Electronic Systems – a plan for growth; one year on
As a first step, ESCO has set up an Industry 4.0 demonstrator at the
Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) near Coventry. The plan is that this
will develop over time to become a test facility to be used by companies
developing Industry 4.0 products, in addition to its role of showing endusers what is possible.
The MTC demonstrator will focus on Factory Automation for the
manufacturing of discrete products but there is also a need to develop
Industry 4.0 techniques for the Process Industries, key amongst which are
power generation, oil and gas, petrochemicals, water and waste and the
chemical and plastics industries. Currently discussions are taking place
with a number of possible partners to build a suitable Process Industry
demonstrator facility.
The ongoing development of the demonstrators is seen as a five year
project and will need close co-operation between government and industry
in the same way that the three other demonstrators in Europe (all in
Germany) have close German government involvement. This approach will
be the cornerstone of the Industrial Automation work-stream for ESCO for
the foreseeable future.
5. Electronic Systems,
the bedrock
technology for
Robotics and
Autonomous Systems
ESCO Robotics and
Autonomous Systems Sponsor
Keith Williams
ALTRAN
ESCO Robotics and
Autonomous Systems Lead
Derek Boyd
NMI
Robotics and Autonomous Systems (RAS) is recognised as one of the UK’s
Eight Great Technologies. It has a fundamental reliance on electronic subsystems and embedded software and offers potential growth opportunities
for electronic systems in the UK.
In the year ahead
Robotics and machine autonomy are already a significant part of our
lives, covering a broad spectrum of applications from transport to surgery.
In the fields of transport for example, mass transit metro systems are
already automated and often driverless, and there will be an even greater
reliance on electronic systems with the development of intelligent systems
optimising transport flows across different transport modalities, and the
development and introduction of numerous driver assistance systems in
passenger vehicles.
1.ESCO will identify and highlight the underpinning technologies that
are crucial to the development of autonomous systems and robotics
in the UK.
2.ESCO will seek to inform the RAS Special Interest Group initiative to
promote closer engagement and recognition of the reliance on the underpinning technologies customised for applications.
3.ESCO will continue to work alongside the ASTRAEA program and seek to
establish UK Electronic Systems Supply chain opportunities in this area.
4.ESCO will continue to work with the Automotive Council Technology
Workstream to identify specific proposals to develop improved vehicle
autonomy and UK capability in vehicles, in highways infrastructure and
in communications technologies.
To ensure that ESCO is adding value to existing activities, this workstream
focused on exploring the existing robotics and autonomous systems
landscape to ensure that the electronic systems community adds
maximum value to existing activities.
Alongside IoT and Industrial Automation, Robotics and Autonomous
Systems will continue to play an important role for the future and this will
focus ESCO in the year ahead on the following activities.
As a result of this awareness raising and relationship building activity,
specific opportunities for electronic systems companies have been
identified through working with other sector councils. These are
summarised in the table below.
Table 1: ESCO RAS engagement with other sector Councils
Aerospace Council
Discussions led to modifications in the most recent ASTRAEA bid to
increase emphasis on electronic systems, creating greater potential for
research opportunities.
Automotive Council
Linked up interests in Intelligent Mobility and Automotive propulsion, with
discussions underway for potential joint Council technology demonstrators
in intelligent mobility.
Defence Growth Partnership
NMI’s Automotive Electronic Systems Innovation Network (AESIN) is
spearheading the development of an intelligent transport technology
demonstrator, which seeks to establish a live connected corridor on an
established highway.
Highlighting the benefits of the UK electronic systems sector, which
instantly removes ITAR compliance interests. Further exploration of
activities that the sectors could advance particularly under AMSCI bids.
Robotics and Autonomous Systems Special Interest Group (RAS SIG)
Initial discussions have highlighted a difference in perspective with the
Special Interest Group focused on developing service robots as opposed
to nearer term market opportunities such as industrial robots. Further
discussions are planned to identify areas of synergy.
September 2014
15
“Skills-led innovation is one of the
UK industry’s differentiating factors
and therefore critical to the future of
UK industry as a whole in attracting
inward investment.”
16
Electronic Systems – a plan for growth; one year on
6. Growing electronic
systems
employment to
1,000,000 by 2020
The ESCO skills workstream is working towards raising employment in the
sector by 150,000 in addition to increasing the capability and quality of
our existing workforce to ensure the sector is able to compete globally. This
will increase total employment in the sector to 1 million and comes at the
same time that engineering more broadly is facing a chronic skills shortage
as documented by Professor John Perkins and others. Indeed, our own
industry estimates that we need three to four times the current number of
graduates in order to meet future demand.
It is also interesting, when set against the narrative that has accompanied
public debates about growing industrial automation over the last year,
where concerns have been raised about future job losses. In fact the
opposite is true, the uptake of electronic systems in automated factory
processes offers significant UK employment opportunities for technology
companies and also in a host of other related sectors that will both use and
synthesise information generated from the use of electronic systems and
the expansion of the Internet of Things in the manufacturing environment.
Ensuring that the UK has the right skills profile to meet both existing
demand and to compete in a changing landscape with fiercely sought after
markets emerging in Robotics and Autonomous Systems, Internet of Things,
Smart Grid and Intelligent Mobility. Skills-led innovation is one of the
UK industry’s differentiating factors and therefore critical to the future
of UK industry as a whole in attracting inward investment.
Over the past year, ESCO-related work has focused on three activities:
1) Taking the lead on Electronic Systems skills activities
Due to the critical need for greater skills investment ESCO is building an
industry group to respond to the rapidly changing landscape. This group
has already compiled an overview of skills needs which charts the skills
needs of the sector from software engineers to hardware manufacturers
and from entry-level skills to post-graduates.
2) Improving apprenticeship provision
A survey of employers on skills requirements was undertaken along with
a closer look at apprenticeship provision. The results of this survey have
been combined with other findings and form the basis of an ESCO skills
report that will be published later in the year, but the results are already
informing our existing activities.
The Government is also interested in expanding apprenticeship provision
across the UK, but wants industry to take the lead in defining the content
of apprenticeship standards in England. A new round of Apprenticeship
Trailblazers has been announced, where companies with a common
interest form a group that develops standards for the sector.
ESCO Skills sponsor
Indro Mukerjee
Plastic Logic
ESCO Skills lead
Derek Boyd
NMI
ESCO has brought together 23 electronic systems companies, led by Dialog
Semiconductor, which have applied to develop an Electronic Systems
Trailblazer. If successful, this Trailblazer would provide a unique opportunity
and incentive to get broad industrial participation into re-defining and
developing new industry standards for apprentices up to and including a
post-graduate apprenticeship model.
3) Driving forward the skills programme
Future skills development is vital to our sector and this is why we must
take ownership of defining the new skills that industry values and extend
this understanding of requirements into many industrial sectors highly
dependent on Electrical and Electronic Engineering skills.
To this end, the UK Electronic Skills Foundation (UKESF) continues to
offer bursaries and placements to undergraduates who are interested in
pursuing a career in electronic engineering. This initiative also benefits
participating companies providing improved access to a potential pool of
future employees who are more likely to be successfully integrated into the
workforce at the end of the placement programme.
UKESF is a successful initiative that was developed with a combination
of public and private investment with the Department for Business,
Innovation and Skills (BIS) providing seed-funding to get the project off the
ground and industry providing additional investment which has led to a
sustained placement programme and graduate recruitment. It is at present
limited to Electrical and Electronic Engineering undergraduates at selected
universities only. There is an opportunity for more employers to engage and
as the number of universities involved increases the range of courses also
goes up. More information on this initiative can be found here www.ukesf.org
In the year ahead
We will seek to place the UK at the forefront of a new wave of talent-led
innovation that makes the UK an even more attractive base for electronic
systems companies to grow and develop. We will therefore undertake the
following to drive ahead our skills activities.
•Establish an ESCO Skills Forum with a charter to act as a focal point for
Electronic Systems Skills needs across multiple industrial sectors.
•Publicly launch this group at an ESCO Skills Summit.
•Launch an ESCO Skills Report.
•Support development of the Electronic Systems Apprenticeship
Trailblazer.
September 2014
17
“the UK can continue
to be a world leader in
electronic systems.”
18
Electronic Systems – a plan for growth; one year on
7. Technology
development
for growth in
electronic systems
Technology development and exploitation is crucial to achieving continued
growth in the Electronic Systems supply chain. As such electronic systems
companies often spend more than 10 percent of turnover on research and
development (R&D). With strong Intellectual Property, technology know-how
and a vibrant world-leading University research base, the UK can continue
to be a world leader in electronic systems. Commercial pressures however
often mean that research activity is focused on technology development for
short-term or immediate business gain with less emphasis on R&D as a
long-term business development tool.
As a facilitator to achieving continued growth in the UK electronic systems
sector, the ESCO report recommended the formation of a technology forum
of industrial and academic leaders from the community and our public
sector partners.
ESCO Technology Sponsor
Derek Boyd
NMI
ESCO Technology lead
Alastair McGibbon
NMI
In the year ahead the Technology Group will:
•Conduct a survey of lead technologists in the electronic systems
community to develop a wider understanding of views about key
technology development barriers that are a considered a priority to
advancing UK growth.
•Seek to strengthen industry-academia links in electronic systems
through engagement with academic groups such as eFutures.
•Engage with technology partners and stakeholders to highlight the
priorities that are identified by the workstream.
ESCO has brought together industry, academia and the public sector to
scope out common areas of interest. Through the ESCO Technology group
we want to provide a forum for an exchange of ideas on strategic research
and development that will be necessary to drive a sustainable electronic
systems industry in the UK.
In particular, the group is keen to support technology development that will
underpin future technologies in ESCO’s growth markets including Internet
of Things; Industrial Automation; Robotics and Autonomous Systems and
Healthcare.
The ESCO Technology Group is comprised of twenty technology experts from
a wide range of disciplines, technologies and end market sectors, who have
focused on:
•Identifying the main business barriers that the technology community
faces including access to end user requirements in electronic systems
and the challenges associated with the development of low volume
manufacturing of highly specialised products.
•Ensuring UK electronic systems companies are on a level playing
field when applying into EU funding streams is a key objective of the
technology workstream. ESCO is currently pressing the Government to
make funds available so that UK companies can apply to the c4.8bn
Electronic Components and Systems for European Leadership (ECSEL)
programme on a level playing field with EU competitors.
September 2014
19
20
Electronic Systems – a plan for growth; one year on
8. Appendix 1:
ESCO Executive
The ESCO Executive, which comprises the leading trade associations in the
electronic systems sector provides a forum for the wider electronic systems
community to address common issues and share ideas to advance the
interests of UK companies.
This forum provides a much greater reach into the electronic systems
supply-chain and supports the work of the Council through focused
discussion on targeted matters.
Over the year, the Executive has spearheaded activity to:
•Reduce the impact of EU and UK regulation
The ESCO executive has contributed views to the Government’s red tape
challenge and raised concerns about the impact of proposed European
legislation.
•Inform ESCO’s skills workstream
To support the work of the ESCO skills workstream the Executive, in
partnership with Semta, conducted a survey of 200 Electronic Systems
companies, the results of which have helped to shape the action plan to
improve electronic systems skills provision in the future.
Component Obsolescence Group
(COG)
•Reduced the cost of counterfeiting
Counterfeiting is a serious concern affecting many electronic systems
companies. The cost of counterfeiting is estimated at £30bn and is
putting at risk 14,800 jobs. It can undermine business models and puts
at risk future innovation in the UK.
The ESCO Executive has worked hard throughout the year to raise
awareness of mechanisms to reduce the risk to companies and provides
a forum for sharing ideas and information on how to reduce the impact
of those issues.
More information about events and activities can be found at the AntiCounterfeiting Forum at www.anticounterfeitingforum.com
The ESCO Executive is comprised of representatives of the following
organisations
a special interest group addressing and mitigating the effects of
obsolescence.
Ian Blackman
e: iblackman@cognition-am.com
Electronics Component Supply Network links near market research, manufacturers, channel partners and Adam Fletcher
(ECSN)
systems integrators encouraging co-operation through networking e: afletcher@theeuropeanoperation.com
events and improving market visibility by the collation of industry
statistics.
Electronics Yorkshire
supports businesses growth and development across the supply
chain and particularly in the defence, aerospace, security,
automotive and medical industries.
Peter Brooks
e: peter.brooks@esco.org.uk
ESTnet
is a network of organisations whose members design, develop,
manufacture or integrate electronic and software technologies.
Idris Price
e: idris.price@estnet.uk.net
GAMBICA
represents the interests of companies in the instrumentation,
control, automation and laboratory technology industry in the UK.
Graeme Philp
e: gsphilp@gambica.org.uk
NMI
has the objective to aid the development of a sustainable,
Derek Boyd
world-leading Electronic Systems community by building a strong e: derek.boyd@nmi.org.uk
network and acting as a catalyst and facilitator for commercial
and technological development.
Silicon South West
organisation that provides regular networking events, news
and national and international promotion for the region’s
microelectronics cluster.
Simon Bond
e: s.a.bond@bath.ac.uk
SMART Group
promotes the advancement of the Electronics Manufacturing
Industry in Surface Mount and Related Assembly Technologies.
Graham Naisbitt
e: graham@thetestlab.com
techUK
represents the companies and technologies that are defining
today the world that we will live in tomorrow.
Julian David
e: julian.david@techuk.org
For more information on how to get involved in the ESCO Executive or to
contribute to ESCO’s work more widely, contact Sarah Macken via
www.esco.org.uk
September 2014
21
ESCO Objectives to be delivered by 2020
A blueprint for success
today
850,000
with 50%
Electronic Systems at
the heart of...
people working on
Electronic Systems
embedded in other
industrial sectors
Ambitions for 2020 1,000,000
ACTIONS
STRATEGIES
ENABLED THROUGH
SMART
LEADERSHIP &
ENGAGING THE
COMMUNITY
Have a clear structure to
provide leadership and
a focal point for the
UK Electronic
Systems community.
Establish
Leadership
Forum
Engaging
the sector
>> Building recognition of this
strategically important key
enabling technology sector
>>
SMART SUPPLY
SMART INDUSTRIES
DELIVERING SMART
JOBS
SMART UK TO
GLOBAL UK
Ensure UK verticals can source
UK electronics and attract
systems integrators.
UK at the forefront of creating
new Electronic Systems-based
industries.
Ensuring the UK continues to
create great electronics
technology, but striving for more
UK-led global players and
export.
Markets of
Tomorrow
Electronic
Systems
Technology
Group
Promoting UK
Electronic
Systems
capability on
global stage
Taxation as
a strategic
incentive
The heart
of Smart
Healthcare
The hub of
Smart
Transport
Government
procurement
driving
innovation
Intellectual
Property –
recognition
and protection
Encourage and
support
university
research,
development
and innovation
The
intelligence
in the Smart
Grid
Catapults –
recognising
importance
of Electronic
Systems
Helpline –
support
through the
funding maze
Leadership
Forum
connected to
key verticals
Building UK
ecosystems
Strategic
on-shoring
in summary
1.
Grow UK
industry’s GDP to
7.1% from
5.4%
£80 Billion
annual
contribution
to the
economy
£
£120 Billion
5.4%
of GDP
2.
Increase
the number of
employees to 1m
from 850,000
7.1%
3.
Develop the
UK as a centre for
Electronic Systems
innovation
> Accelerating growth in UK
>> Developing and exploiting UK
vertical sectors as a result of
Electronic Systems capabilities,
the use of UK Electronic Systems
nationally and globally
Electronic Systems underpins many highSMART SUSTAINABLE growth sectors in the UK. The future is high
value growth with global export potential
GOVERNMENT
SMART BRANDS,
KNOWN BRANDS
DEVELOPING
SMART SKILLS
Create the environment to grow
globally dominant electronics
brands from the UK.
Develop a skills base that
provides UK industry (horizontal
and vertical) with the resources
required to take advantage of
future markets.
To be recognised by
government as an important
economic and strategic
contributor to the UK
economy.
UK B2C
brands
study
Graduates:
develop the
role of the
UK Electronics
Skills
Foundation
Increase the
range of
available craft
and student
apprenticeships
Setting joint
strategic
objectives
Post-Graduate
skills
prioritisation
Refining
migration
policy support
needs of UK
Electronics
PARTNERSHIP
£
Adopting the
economic
model
•850,000 UK people working on electronic
systems will rise to 1,000,000 by 2020
•£80bn contribution to the economy will
grow to £120bn by 2020
•Accounts for 5.4% of UK GDP will rise to
7.1% by 2020
•Electronic Systems companies typically
invest 10% of turnover in research and
development
September 2014
23
ESCO
Electronic Systems
Challenges & Opportunities
www.esco.org.uk
ESCO
e: info@esco.org.uk