“Semiconductors + software: The fuel of the modern economy”

Since the birth of the transistor in 1947 semiconductor technology has seen a rapid rate of development, leading to a vast diversity of applications. Today´s integrated circuits can now contain up to a billion transistors and provide the fuel for the Digital Information Age which so seamlessly affects all of our lives and touches billions of people on our planet. Today´s technology is “embedded” or hidden in applications such as mobile phones, digital cameras, information appliances, control systems, automotive electronics with the digital systems of today doing the work of mechanical systems of the past. The software content of many systems is now more costly than the metal out of which they are built. With the opposing forces of added complexity with increasing pressure to shorten time to market, the semiconductor industry has reached a level of maturity that has caused horizontal specialist companies to emerge with a theme of global teamwork being necessary for success. Sir Robin Saxby will give a brief history of the semiconductor industry, highlighting the new challenges and applications as we look toward 2020. He will touch on the way in which our power networks have embraced the advancement of control systems in power distribution. He will also discuss how developments in this field have given rise to more powerful yet more power efficient and lower cost devices.