EBSCON 2026: ‘Crossroads – Europe at a Turning Point’ – a follow-up report

Graz/Villach, 9 October 2026. Europe is at a turning point when it comes to semiconductors, AI and strategic technologies. EBSCON, the leading trade fair for the European semiconductor and electronics industry, held in Graz on 7 October 2026, was therefore themed ‘Crossroads – Europe at a Turning Point’. The central question – how quickly, and through what measures, Europe, as the global market leader in chip technologies, can translate technological expertise into tangible industrial strength and value creation – ran through all the keynote speeches, panel discussions and debates. EBSCON 2026, which took place for the second time as part of EBSCON WEEK, brought together various levels: European strategy, regional location policy, innovation, start-ups and industrial implementation.

‘Crossroads’ and how Europe can translate its technological know-how into value creation within the European region were the focus of EBSCON 2026.
Storytelling, networking, strength, as well as passion and perseverance for long-term, meaningful goals – this is how enthusiastic participants described their key impressions of EBSCON 2026.
With a new visitor record, EBSCON has once again proved this year that it is a European hot spot: for the first time, more than 500 participants from 24 countries took part in EBSCON WEEK in Graz and Klagenfurt.
Speakers from the UK, Germany, Japan, France and the Netherlands.
The event was opened by Provincial Councillor Willibald Ehrenhöfer, Silicon Alps Cluster Managing Director Robert Gfrerer, and a message from Carinthia’s Governor Daniel Fellner.
Keynote speeches by Hideki Chou, Jonas Jütting and Hermann Hauser, as well as ‘Impulse Talks’ with industry representatives in the two co-sessions: the Innovation Lab ‘Dual Use’ and the Semiconductor Future Lab powered by AT-C³, the Austrian Chips Competence Centre.
A panel discussion and wrap-up on ‘Europe’s Semiconductor Value Chain’ featuring Jan Preibisch (AT&S), Brian Hotani (SPRIND), Wolfgang Steinbauer (NXP Austria), Peter Strutzmann (Lam Research) and Martin Haintz (HAINTZ IT SOLUTIONS) delved deeply into this year’s central theme, ‘Crossroads’.
International Business Mission with delegations from Sweden, the Netherlands and Japan in Carinthia and Styria.
Presentation of the winners of the Infineon Start-up Challenge “Humanoid Robotics”: Adaptronics s.r.l from Italy, COSMOKE from South Korea and TECHiFAB from Germany.
Pitch sessions by the 32 exhibitors, intensive networking and matchmaking throughout the event, featuring 174 organised speed-dating sessions
EBSCON WEEK 2026: This year’s EBSCON was part of a series of events organised in cooperation with the SILICON ALPS Cluster in Graz and Villach, a strong business hub with globally successful companies

ebscon picture with three people infront of a wall with icons in hand

Robert Gfrerer, Jonas Jütting and Hideki Chou at EBSCON 2026
Further print-quality photos from EBSCON 2026 (reproduction with copyright notice – © Christof Hütter – free of charge!) are available for download at: https://ebscon.eu/press/

In their opening statements, Styrian Provincial Councillor for Economic Affairs Willibald Ehrenhöfer and Carinthian Governor Daniel Fellner emphasised the uniqueness of the high-tech region in southern Austria. In his digital message to Graz, Daniel Fellner highlighted this year’s EBSCON motto: “Crossroads – decide.disrupt.deliver: Strong and innovative companies make the region a leading platform for microelectronics, where the future is shaped through collaboration.” Willibald Ehrenhöfer also expressed his conviction regarding the joint southern Austrian high-tech region: “Here, strong industrial and scientific expertise are closely intertwined. If we work together to further develop this potential, our companies can grow, develop new technologies and tap into international markets.”

Robert Gfrerer, Managing Director of the Silicon Alps Cluster and President of the Silicon Europe Alliance, believes Europe is well on its way to becoming a global market leader: “The key now is to scale up innovation more quickly, tap into new markets and secure industrial value creation in Europe. Southern Austria can play a major role in this, as it is here that expertise from microelectronics, the automotive sector, security, power electronics, research and industry converge.”

As part of the ‘Queue Pitching’ session, the 32 exhibitors took to the stage right at the start of EBSCON 2026.

The two-part opening keynote, ‘From Emerging Technologies to European Leadership’, this time examined the future of the semiconductor industry in Europe from both a technological and a strategic perspective.

Keynote by Hideki Chou, General Manager of the NIL R&D Division | Dai Nippon Printing (DNP)

The first part focused on groundbreaking new manufacturing technologies from the former Japanese printing company DNP, which is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year: state-of-the-art photomasks through to nanoimprint lithography (NIL) are enabling global innovations in the field of advanced packaging processes whilst simultaneously reducing energy consumption and ensuring stable production.

Keynote by Jonas Jütting | European Commission

The second key focus was on the ‘European Chips Act 2.0’, the European Commission’s future framework for semiconductors. Jütting highlighted the massive surge in demand driven by artificial intelligence and outlined the framework conditions necessary to strengthen Europe’s technological sovereignty and global competitiveness: improving investment conditions, demand-side measures such as data centres, supply-side measures through groundbreaking innovations, and measures to strengthen supply chain resilience.

During EBSCON, there were not only thought-provoking presentations but also dialogue and active participation between international industry representatives and experts and the participating decision-makers from the audience. This was facilitated by the two co-sessions:

Innovation Lab “Dual Use”

The “Dual Use” Lab addresses the growing importance of defence technologies as a driver of innovation for both the civilian and military sectors. Chaired by Daniel Cronin, the session featured discussions between Daniela Riegler of Nortal GmbH, Peter Entenfellner of BOOXit, and Matthias Rüther of JOANNEUM RESEARCH. In light of cybercrime and attempts to influence public opinion, the focus is shifting towards collaboration between industry, research and public institutions to rapidly strengthen Europe’s resilience and long-term capacity for innovation.

Semiconductor Future Lab powered by AT-C³

“Get started, act on it, don’t complain but push” – this was the summary provided by the speakers at the “Semiconductor Future Lab”: Christina Hirschl, Silicon Austria Labs; Sana Ibrahim, Grenoble INP – UGA; Elly Zwartkruis, ChipNL Competence Centre; Christian Stockreiter, ams OSRAM; and Jonas Jütting, European Commission. Led by Lukas Lassbacher from the AT-C³Austrian Chips Competence Centre, they identified ‘opportunity areas’, strong application markets and skilled workers – both well-trained and with practical experience gained in companies – as the key challenges shaping the European semiconductor industry.

Keynote: “The Scale Up Europe Fund”

“It’s technology, stupid!” With this reinterpretation of the famous Clinton slogan, Austrian entrepreneur and investor Hermann Hauser summed up Europe’s competitiveness issue. One of the greatest challenges, he said, is scaling up companies beyond the start-up phase and enabling them to compete successfully on the global stage. He cited the sevenfold higher level of funding for scale-ups and the NASDAQ, which focuses more strongly on technology than other stock exchanges, as reasons for the US’s pioneering role. His advice to young people choosing a degree course was equally clear: the trained physicist recommended studying physics.

Infineon Startup Challenge 2026

This year’s Infineon Startup Challenge focused on robotics and physical AI. It brought together international start-ups with experts from the fields of technology, industry and the innovation ecosystem, who worked together for several months on innovative solutions. The aim was to further develop promising approaches, promote technological collaboration and accelerate the journey from innovative idea to market-ready application. On Demo Day on 6 October, a panel of experts and representatives from industry, research and investment selected the winners, who presented their projects to an international audience as part of EBSCON:

1st place: Adaptronics s.r.l from Italy

2nd place: COSMOKE from South Korea

3rd place: TECHiFAB from Germany

Closing Panel “Europe’s Semiconductor Value Chain”

Which collaborations are already yielding results? Where are connections still lacking, and where does untapped potential still lie? During the closing panel discussion, Jan Preibisch (AT&S), Brian Hotani (SPRIND), Wolfgang Steinbauer (NXP Austria), Peter Strutzmann (Lam Research) and Martin Haintz (HAINTZ IT SOLUTIONS) explored concrete ways to strengthen collaboration between companies, across sectors and across borders. The issues were on the table, but far too little was happening, they concluded. As well as resolving communication problems, the allocation of resources needed to be optimised. What was needed were companies that demonstrated their capabilities and, above all, told their stories with pride!

In the concluding ‘wrap-up’, Robert Gfrerer, Managing Director of the SILICON ALPS Cluster, summarised the key takeaways from this year’s EBSCON: ‘It’s technology, stupid!’ – technology is the decisive driver of Europe’s competitiveness. As a pioneering example, he highlighted the technology from Dai Nippon Printing (DNP) presented at EBSCON. His closing appeal: “We need excellence!” – Europe needs technological excellence and the determination to consistently put innovations into practice.

A busy few days in the south: EBSCON Week

For the second time, EBSCON was part of the EBSCON Week series of events from 6 to 9 October 2026, kicking off with the Infineon Startup Challenge Demo Day in Graz, EBSCON on Wednesday, the first Carinthia Applied Systems Day ‘Robotics’ in Klagenfurt, and company visits for international delegations from Sweden, the Netherlands and Japan in Carinthia and Styria on 8 and 9 October 2026.

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