Strengthening Europe’s semiconductor landscape:

A Swedish delegation explores Austria’s Silicon Alps

 

Europe’s semiconductor ambitions are rapidly evolving. As new initiatives and investments reshape the continent’s technological direction, the pace and depth of collaboration between regions are becoming critical. To explore these dynamics up close, a delegation of Swedish semiconductor and electronics companies travelled to Austria’s Silicon Alps region through the ElektroLink project.

The mission was co-organised by Silicon Alps Cluster, together with Mikaela Persson, Project Manager at OpenTech, whose close coordination ensured a well-curated program and smooth access to leading industrial and research actors in the region.

By Helena Pataki, Content Strategist at OpenTech.
Photos and video also by the author.

From EBSCON to industry deep-dives

The delegation began its program at EBSCON 2025 in Graz. With this year’s theme, Creative Destruction, the conference highlighted the structural transitions underway across Europe’s electronics and software-based systems landscape. Swedish representatives participated alongside industry colleagues from Austria, the Netherlands, France and Czechia, all discussing how Europe should organise itself, how capabilities can be shared and how quickly clusters can coordinate.

Following the conference, the group visited several key industrial and research actors across Styria and Carinthia:

 AT&S (Leoben). High-end PCB and IC substrate manufacturing

 ams OSRAM (Premstätten). Intelligent sensors and illumination

 TDK Electronics (Deutschlandsberg). Electroceramics and Industry 4.0

 Lam Research (Villach). Equipment for advanced chip manufacturing

Silicon Austria Labs (SAL) (Villach). Applied research in electronics-based systems

Together, these visits provided a detailed look at different segments of Austria’s microelectronics value chain, from deep-tech R&D to high-volume production environments.

Collaboration as a strategic necessity

Many participants used the mission to compare national strengths, identify gaps and understand how cooperation could support future competitiveness.

For Maria Huffman of the Swedish Chips Competence Centre (SCCC), the week underlined the geopolitical and structural complexity Europe faces:

“The semiconductor ecosystem is global, complicated and very dependent on geopolitics. The way for each EU country and Europe to succeed is to be flexible, fast-acting, and open to true collaboration.”

Her involvement at EBSCON 2025 reflected Sweden’s growing engagement in Europe’s semiconductor agenda. Her reflections after the visits emphasised the value of seeing the Austrian and Dutch ecosystems firsthand and highlighted the need for Swedish Chips Competence Centre (SCCC) and OpenTech to deepen the cooperation going forward.

A region built on integrated value chains

For Kyoko Jansson of NouiLife , the Silicon Alps region stood out not only for its industrial capabilities, but for its structural cohesion:

“Their members are well connected across electronics, AI, software, medical and rehabilitation. They offer one-stop consulting with a tight value chain from innovation idea to implementation.”

Having recently visited Vienna’s innovation environment, Kyoko noted clear differences between Austria’s regions, with Silicon Alps demonstrating a uniquely integrated network of companies, research institutes and application areas.

Kyoko also highlighted the value of the curated mission format, which enabled deeper interactions:

“During bus rides or breaks, we had valuable discussions with fellow participants. It was an excellent opportunity to learn about Swedish innovation and technological advancements.”

Kyoko left Austria with several new contacts for R&D discussions, component selection and small-scale production. This was a direct result of meeting the right counterparts in the right setting.

Connecting ecosystems and people

While the mission created bridges between Swedish, Austrian and Dutch organisations, it also strengthened relationships within the Swedish delegation itself. Several SMEs noted that the concentrated format made it possible to form connections that would be difficult to establish at larger trade fairs.

For Westra Materials, the curated visits provided insights that would have been difficult to access independently. Marc-Antoine Stoeckel described the experience as a unique opportunity to see how different parts of the semiconductor value chain fit together and how their own technology might integrate into larger industrial environments.

Svep Design Center AB emphasised a similar point. According to Mikael Bergqvist, the factory visits were the most valuable part, offering an understanding of European production sites that cannot be gained remotely. He added that smaller-group interactions enabled richer, more focused discussions than what is typically possible at large industry events.

For FRONTSIDE Electronics the mission combined strong organisation with meaningful opportunities. Madeleine Winberg highlighted that the program generated new contacts for future collaboration and provided important insight for a company in a scale-up phase seeking to understand Europe’s manufacturing landscape.

Next stop: Minalogic Business Meetings 2026 – Open Call now live

 

With the delegation now back from EFECS 2025 in Malta and the recent visit to Austria’s Silicon Alps, the dialogue with Europe’s digital and semiconductor ecosystem continues.

The next opportunity within ElektroLink is the open call for Minalogic Business Meetings 2026 in Grenoble, taking place on 16–17 March 2026. The event gathers over 500 international actors within electronics, microelectronics, IoT AI and cybersecurity.

Swedish electronics SMEs can apply to join a coordinated delegation that includes pre-booked business meetings, a study visit, structured networking and financial support of up to SEK 10,000 for travel and accommodation.

Apply by 9 January 2026: https://elektrolink.se/

Apply now

Featured in this article and video also: Michael Leopold (Zwantschko) & Gernot Eder / Silicon Alps Cluster · Anders Elfwing · David Luthman · Fredrik Ahlmark · Mikael Wikberg · Mikaela Persson · Robert Kvist · Roman Armgarth · Ulrika Johansson · Astrid Armgarth · Fredrik Lindell · Gernot Eder · Sofia Persson Björk · Astrid Armgarth (RISE Research Institutes of Sweden) · Sofia Persson Björk ( Svensk Elektronik ) Also joined by the Dutch delegation: Łukasz Borzęcki, Michel Pastoor, Peter-Jan Hendrikx & Yusuke Uchiyama

Funded by Smartare Elektroniksystem (a Swedish Strategic Innovation Programmes financed by Vinnova , Energimyndigheten and Formas, ett forskningsråd för hållbar utveckling )

Project partners: Bron Innovation & Linköping Science Park – IoT World