European Pilot Lines Initiative

PI-SCALE, PIX4LIFE, and MIRPHAB, three major Pilot Lines, which help companies take photonics technologies from lab into market, have been launched by the Photonics Public Private Partnership (PPP). The Pilot Lines mean that companies will be able to take their good ideas, scale-them up and validate them with the first customers for commercial production. This includes the thousands of high tech SMEs in Europe who often lack access to advanced, cost-intensive infrastructures and expertise needed to manufacture new and innovative products. The Pilot Lines will focus on health applications, flexible organic light-emitting diodes and sensors for the detection of chemicals in gas and liquids. The European Commission has invested €35 million in these projects to boost Europe’s industrial competitiveness. This is part of the Commission’s €700 million investment in the Photonics Public Private Partnership over the seven years of Horizon 2020, the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation.