Official Launch of the ChipNL Competence Centre in Nijmegen
On October 29, 2025, the official launch of the ChipNL Competence Centre (ChipNL CC) took place at the Noviotech Campus in Nijmegen. More than 160 experts from industry, research, and government gathered to discuss how the Netherlands and Europe can strengthen their position in chip design, heterogeneous integration, and equipment innovation within the framework of the European Chips Act 2.0.
ChipNL CC presented its role as a national hub guiding organizations to expertise, facilities, training, talent, and financing, and as the Dutch access point to the European network of Chips Competence Centres. The growing team working on business development, talent and skills, supply chain coordination, and international collaboration was also introduced.
A full programme focused on Europe’s technological strengths
The day opened with an introduction by Elly Zwartkruis, who highlighted the need for Europe to strengthen its position in the global semiconductor value chain.
With global market shares shifting rapidly – Asia 48%, USA 38%, Europe 10% – collaboration and innovation are essential.
The EU Chips Design Platform: lowering barriers and accelerating innovation
Romano Hoofman (imec) presented the European Chips Design Platform (EuroCDP), a cloud-based collaborative environment designed to:
lower the threshold for advanced IC design
provide access to a shared European infrastructure of EDA tools, IP libraries and design flows
connect startups, SMEs and research groups to Design Enablement Teams across Europe
integrate access to pilot lines and early prototyping capacity
The platform plays a central role in Europe’s ambition to scale up fabless innovation and train the next generation of chip designers.
Deep dive: Chip Design
Bratislav Tasic (NXP) opened the session on the future of chip design, followed by a panel moderated by Anna Paar (Brainport Development).
The discussion addressed the fast-growing role of AI-assisted design, exploring how artificial intelligence is changing verification, optimisation and early-stage prototyping.
Panellists from Axelera AI, QBayLogic, TU/e and NXP shared insights into:
how AI is shifting the skillset required for future designers
opportunities for speeding up design cycles
the urgency of keeping European talent pipelines future-proof
Deep dive: Heterogeneous Integration
In the second deep dive, Prof. Martijn Heck (TU/e) explored the synergies between semiconductors and photonics, showing how integrated photonic circuits improve performance, reduce power usage and open up new application domains.
The panel brought together expertise from Synopsys, DEMCON, FononTech and TU Delft, focusing on:
the convergence of electronic and photonic manufacturing
the need for co-design across materials and disciplines
opportunities for the Netherlands in wafer-scale electronic-photonic integration
the strategic relevance of Dutch pilot lines such as JePPIX
Internationalisation under the Chips Act 2.0
Moderated by Naomie Verstraeten (Brainport Development), this panel discussed Europe’s long-term international ambitions.
Speakers from the Ministry of Economic Affairs, BOM, European Commission and ChipNL CC reflected on:
where Europe must invest to remain globally competitive
how Dutch strengths in design, photonics and equipment can scale internationally
why coordinated collaboration between public and private stakeholders is essential
The session concluded with a Mentimeter consultation contributing to the public consultation for the EU Chips Act 2.0.
A milestone moment for the Dutch semicon ecosystem
The event closed with the formal launch of the ChipNL Competence Centre, followed by a networking lunch that captured the energy and optimism of the day.
ChipNL CC will continue this momentum with upcoming workshops, tech deep dives, community events and European collaboration activities.
For an overview of next activities, visit: cccnl.nl/events
View the photo gallery of the launch
Relive the day. Explore the atmosphere, the panels, the discussions and the energy of the community.
View all photos in the gallery
