Co-operative research proves financially sound

During 2002 IMEC recorded an increase of more than 15% in its self-generated revenue compared with the previous financial year.

During 2002 IMEC recorded an increase of more than 15% in its self-generated revenue compared with the previous financial year.

In spite of the grave economic situation in which the semiconductor industry has found itself for more than two years, IMEC achieved good results thanks to its unique business model for co-operative research, in which costs, talent, risks and intellectual properties are shared.

In 2002, IMEC's contract revenue increased by more than 15% to an amount of nearly Eur 105 million.

This represents a contribution of 76% to IMEC's Eur 138 million total budget.

The remaining 24% of the total budget consists of the annual Flemish Community subsidy.

In 2002, IMEC entered into a new management contract with the Flemish Region for a period of five years.

The revenue from international contracts increased in 2002 by 25.5% to Eur 50.2 million or 48.55% of IMEC's contract generated revenue.

In 2002, IMEC had some hundred contracts with businesses in the Flemish region, and an important contribution was made by SMEs, accounting for 75% of IMEC's partnerships in Flanders.

The relative share of the revenue from Flanders remains high, alongside IMEC's strong international growth.

The 43 recognised patents and more than 1150 scientific publications and contributions to conferences reflect the scientific results that have been achieved.

More than half of this has been in collaboration with Flemish universities.

IMEC's number of employees expanded to 1263 in 2002, including some 360 guest researchers and resident industrialists.

IMEC's researchers work on the various technological challenges together with international businesses on the basis of IMEC's unique business model, in which costs, talent, risks, knowledge and therefore also intellectual property are shared.

This business model has proved successful over the past few years.

Businesses must indeed keep investing in research, even in times of economic uncertainty, in order to be able to bring new products on to the market.

The costs of research in the semiconductor sector continue to rise and the technological challenges increase.

By working together on research, businesses can find profitable solutions to problems.

Globally, IMEC has strengthened its position, in part due to an intensification of its efforts on the Japanese market.

These efforts have led to some important new contracts with Japanese businesses, including Matsushita.

On the European and American market fronts, IMEC's leading position as a 'centre of excellence' in a number of research areas has been consolidated.

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