The dawn of a new (microchip) era

With more people living longer than ever before and chronic disease on the rise, traditional healthcare systems are being pushed to their limits. In other words: scarce medical resources (specialized personnel, budgets, etc.) have trouble keeping up with rapidly-increasing patient demands. But imec foresees a different future; a future in which smart health concepts such as advanced diagnostics and precision medicine are within everyone’s reach.

According to the World Economic Forum, we stand on the brink of a technological revolution that will fundamentally alter the way we live and work: we’re at the dawn of the Fourth Industrial Revolution; a revolution characterized by concepts such as automation, human-computer interaction, the Internet of Things and cloud computing.

The threat of global warming, rapid phasing out of natural resources such as oil, coal and gas, and recent issues with nuclear power plants have significantly raised political and societal interest in the use of renewable energy sources and ‘smart grids’. Smart grids are power networks that transport – besides electricity – information that helps us deal with our energy requirements in a more efficient and sustainable way. They enable, for instance, a smoother integration of renewable energy sources – so that we can better cope with the world’s rapidly increasing power consumption.

Through its ‘City of Things’ initiative – in collaboration with the City of Antwerp – imec paves the way for the creation of tomorrow’s smart cities. City of Things is a large-scale testing ground – covering a surface of 80 square kilometers – that will enable thousands of Antwerp citizens and visitors to communicate (and interact) with a huge amount of smart devices and sensors. Being the largest smart city living lab in Europe, it provides tech entrepreneurs with a unique opportunity to get in touch with users who can help them develop, test and optimize future products and services.

Imec's smart education program focuses on the efficient use of educational technologies. It encompasses the development and testing of smart technologies that facilitate interaction and collaboration in the learning process and lay the foundation of tailor-made learning solutions.