The CORNERSTONE Photonics Innovation Centre successfully hosted its latest event, “Roundtable: Light for Future Semiconductors – Unlocking Economic Growth Through Photonics,” on 18th of March 2025. The discussion, attended by key stakeholders, bringing together policymakers, industry leaders, and academics to spotlight the UK’s leadership in photonics and its potential to drive economic growth. The discussion focused on how photonics can advance the government’s missions, focusing on 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲, 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗿𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽.

We were especially honoured to welcome Gurinder Singh Josan CBE MP , who showed his commitment to advancing the sector within government, and Dr Ben Spencer MP (Shadow Minister for Technology, Science and Innovation), who provided invaluable insights.

“𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘩𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘴, 𝘴𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘴.
𝘞𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘴. 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘜𝘒’𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘙&𝘋 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱, 𝘊𝘖𝘙𝘕𝘌𝘙𝘚𝘛𝘖𝘕𝘌’𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘰𝘵𝘺𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩-𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘮𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘶𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘬𝘦𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳.”

Dr Ben Spencer MP, Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)

𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗧𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀:

1. Growing recognition of photonics as a key enabler of future technologies and its contribution to the UK’s economy.

2. The UK government should encourage collaboration among research clusters to avoid competition and silos, which hinder industry and research progress.
It should emulate successful European models, particularly in the Netherlands and Belgium, where integrated research-to-innovation pipelines drive breakthroughs.

3. The UK’s expertise in photonics should be fully leveraged by restructuring funding programs to support interdisciplinary collaboration.

4. Our work at the CORNERSTONE Photonics Innovation Centre is widely acknowledged, reinforcing our role in shaping the sector’s future.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗡𝗲𝘅𝘁?

We are working on follow-ups to translate discussions into action and writing policy recommendations. Stay tuned as we share further reflections and opportunities for collaboration!