On 15th of March, 2013 the Photonics PPP Infoday took place in Madrid, Spain. The event was organised by the Centre for Industrial Technological Development (CDTI) that is responsible for fostering the technological development and innovation of Spanish companies.

The main guest speaker at the event was Mr. Thomas Skordas, the Head of Photonics Unit in DG Connect at the European Commission, who gave very informative presentations to the Spanish photonics sector representatives. During the first one, the last calls of EU funded FP7 and CIT programs related to Photonics were reviewed. Useful advices and insights were given about what should not be forgotten and emphasized in new project proposals. Another talk covered the coming new Horizon 2020 funding program in EU and Photonics part in it. The Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) concept was explained with examples of what interested organisations could expect and how they should prepare for it. In addition to these talks, Fernando Martin from the CDTI center, Francisco Lopez from Photonics21 and Santiago Simon from Fotonica21 presented their view, possibilities and services that Spanish organisations can receive in Horizon2020 and other initiatives provided by their organisations.

Moreover, interested organisations could have arranged personal short meetings and discuss with Mr. Skordas about their project proposals during the other talks. SECPhO assisted one of the members, KDPOF, in arranging the meeting.

To conclude, the event was a good opportunity to get to know better about the future possibilities for photonics industry in Spain and meet and introduce SECPhO personally to Mr. Thomas Skordas. We encourage our members to participate actively in forming and participating at the Horizon2020 program as it offers many possibilities of economical and social growth in international environment.

P.S. SECPhO has already participated at different events and collected a lot of information about European initiatives. Contact us in case of interest about the mentioned presentations or any other information about the Horizon2020 program!