The money spent on printed and potentially printed electronics doubled in 2007, as did the number of organisations participating. There are now about 1500 organisations doing significant work, most of them being academic. In 2008, there will be much more emphasis on commercialisation and many more countries will join the fray.
The leading European conference on printed electronics, the IDTechEx Printed Electronics Europe is part of the only global set of conferences on the subject in Japan, China, the USA and Europe. This year it moves from one centre of excellence Cambridge to another, Dresden in Germany. Once again, there will be many visits to best-in-class local facilities to bring the subject alive. The move to commercialisation will be reflected in many presentations, including Richard Kirk - who grew the printed electroluminescent display business elumin8 very rapidly by new applications - talking on how to make money out of printed electronics. Hasbro will describe the relevant needs of a leading toy manufacturer.