New hires at Elektronik Report
A couple of new members of the team at ELEKTRONIK REPORT. Martin Schmaddebeck is a new addition to the editorial team, while Andreas Miksik has taken over advertising sales.
It's great to see this Austrian publication doing well, and recruiting new members of the team, particularly as they are celebrating the 40th anniversary of the publication later this year.
Techwatch to Organise First Dutch RF Conference
On 23 November the first Dutch RF Conference will take place at Novio Tech Campus in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. This new conference will include:
- Sessions on product-specific applications with a focus on innovative solutions in combination with advanced wireless technology
- In-depth sessions highlighting trends such as RF energy and RF power and focusing on engineers, designers and technical managers in the advanced RF field
The conference is designed to attract an audience of Belgian and Dutch high tech professionals and companies involved in high-end RF development and RF applications, and the organisers promise sessions that will interest engineers, team leaders, technical managers, product developers and innovation managers.
A call for papers is open until 1 September. Authors are encouraged to submit proposals that are "in-depth, but not academic," covering:
- Low-power RF
- RF energy
- RF power
- Innovative product applications in RF
Submissions with a close link to markets such as health/medical, automotive, telecom and communication are particularly encouraged.
Sponsorship opportunities are also available - check out the Dutch RF website for more details.
Weka mixing English and Chinese for The Elektronik
Weka Fachmedien will publish a combined English and Chinese title, The Elektronik international, as a special issue on November 2nd 2016, just in time for the industry's biggest trade show, electronica. The idea of the publication is to give a flavour of the content of Weka's German titles to other readers, with topics covered including IoT (Security, Software, Communication, Cloud, …), Industry 4.0, Wireless, Microcontrollers and Automotive.
This is the first publication in Chinese and English from a German publisher in our industry - at least as far as we are aware. We think this experimental approach is sure to be a success because of the high number of particularly American advertisers that can be reached at electronica and the other big German shows. the addition of Chinese is also interesting: although Chinese suppliers have be very active in the European market, it's only recently that they have grown their advertising spend to such an important level.
Weka plans to print 10,000 copies, focusing distribution on electronica, with some copies also available at SPS/IPC/Drives. They've planned to distribute the publication within the special ‘Chinese’ section of the fairs, targeting trade press areas and forums within these sections.
PCIM Europe 2017 issues call for papers
The organisers of PCIM Europe’s conference have issued a call for papers. PCIM Europe is the leading event for the entire power electronics industry and its fields of application, usually characterized by their unique combination of a practise-oriented conference and exhibition.
PCIM will be held from the 16th-18th May 2017 in Nuremberg, Germany, aiming to demonstrate varied expertise, and provide the opportunity to exchange specialist knowledge, informing an international audience about the latest results and developments in the field of power electronics.
The conference will be held in English, covering a wide range of topics including recent developments on power semiconductors, passive components, thermal management products, energy storage, sensors and new materials, as well as systems. Drives in automation will continue to be a subject in 2017, providing experts with inspiring and wide-ranging subjects in the field of power electronics.
The ‘Call for Papers’ gives the go-ahead for experts from industry and academia to submit their papers on power electronics, and allow speakers to have the opportunity to present their latest results and developments within a lecture or poster presentation. With the deadline on 18th October 2016, experts should be quick to submit their papers, as the more fortunate selected papers will be included in the official PCIM Europe proceedings, as well as in the scientific databases of IEEExplore, Scopus, Compendex and IET Inspec Direct.
Outstanding papers will be recognised with awards; the winner of the ‘Best Paper Award’ will receive 1,000 Euros and the chance to participate at the PCIM Asia 2018 Conference in Shanghai. Also, three ‘Young Engineer Award’ worth 1,000 Euro each are available, giving outstanding writers no older than 35 the opportunity to be awarded at the opening ceremony of the PCIM Europe conference on the 16th May 2017.
Bits and Chips Smart System Event 2016
Techwatch are hosting one of the biggest High Tech events held in the Netherlands, the Bits and Chips Smart Systems event on 28th September 2016. This high tech event is being held at Hertogenbosch, and Techwatch has guaranteed a thrilling exhibition surrounding amazing new Dutch high tech, and the opportunity to attend exciting conferences surrounding ‘The Internet of Services’, ‘Printed Electronics Autonomous Driving’ and ‘From make to start-up’. With many experts traveling far and wide for this event suggests this event in previous years was a huge success.
Bits and Chips are the leading new and opinion magazine for high tech industry owned by Techwatch, with their main focus in the new items on the influence of technology. Bits and Chips magazine has a great reputation within the high tech industry in Belgium and Netherlands, presenting them as a reliable and exceptional source to help provide information for this event.
Bits and Chips Smart System event, is an easy place for experts in the industry including researchers, designers and engineers to meet, share their knowledge and expertise with each other. This amazing event allows experts of all fields within the high tech industry to contribute and help each other with their knowledge, whilst also establishing and reinforcing their tactical partnerships with each other.
ETN offers range of marketing opportunities in Finland
We recently reported that Elektroniikkalehti had rebranded to ETN, making things a lot easier for those of us with limited Finnish to discuss this title. The publication has also been working to offer a wider range of ways to reach the Finnish market. For companies wanting editorial-like promotion with complete control, ETN is offering native advertising: the digital equivalent of the good old advertorial. Interestingly the publication has also built an email list that can be rented. Although it consists of only 2000 contacts, the Finnish market isn't as big as many other European markets, and this must represent the largest rentable list of Finnish electronics engineers. For more information, contact Napier or ETN.
Bits and Chips celebrates success of ASML
Bits and Chips is the leading magazine in the Netherlands for the high tech industry, and five years ago they published a special issue entirely focused upon ASML. This Dutch company is the biggest supplier in the world of photolithography systems for the semiconductor industry, and they are aiming to make history by having their Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography (EUV) platform ready for mass production by the end of 2016.
Bits and Chips have decided to publish a follow up special issue dedicated to ASML, to celebrate the major milestone they have achieved in semiconductor history. This special issue is to be published on the 16th December 2016 and will focus on a series of interviews and technology backgrounders.
With a circulation of 20,000 copies to be published, this special issue is not to missed. It will reflect extensively on this technology milestone, celebrating this great accomplishment. ASML’s sales are growing due to the system enhancements that are part of the holistic lithography suite. This has helped these additions become a must rather than an attractive option, proving ASML continues to grow as a company, suggesting they will continue to provide further developments.
Call for Papers - E&E Kompendium
Authors have been invited to submit proposals for the E&E Kompendium 2017, the annual reference book for German electronics engineers. Submissions are invited on a wide range of topics, including
- The main "trend topic" - Automotive
- Active components and microcontrollers
- Passive components
- Embedded Systems
- Design tools and software
- Optoelectronics and displays
- Electromechanics and connectors
- Power supply and power electronics
- Measurement technology and EMC
- Manufacturing
- Distribution and services
The Kompendium has a total circulation of 16.900: 7.900 print and 9.000 electronic copies. The deadline for abstracts is 14th March 2016, and submissions can be made by email to: eue.redaktion@publish-industry.net or the online form.
Data Protection 'Safe Harbor' Agreement Rejected, January 2016 Datageddon Looms
The European Court of Justice has struck down the Safe Harbor agreement that allows organisations to transfer data from the EU to the USA, a ruling that follows the US authorities’ mass surveillance activities of European citizens, leaked by Edward Snowden back in 2013.
Established in November 2000, Safe Harbor is a policy agreement between the United States Department of Commerce and the European Union, which regulates the way US companies transfer and handle the personal data of European individuals. Simply put, it allows American companies to transfer personal data from Europe to the USA easily, without breeching European law.
What does this mean for US companies?
While the collapse of this transatlantic pact is a victory to European privacy advocates, the decision to make the safe harbour agreement invalid has huge implications on US companies, particularly in the technology, telecoms and cloud space.
With as many as 4,500 companies relying on this transatlantic transfer of personal data, the ruling means that these companies potentially have to restructure how they manage, store and use their data in Europe, a task that will require a lot of time and money. With marketing generating much of this data, it’s a worrying time for marketers who work with American companies.
Fortunately there is no need to panic: at least not yet! The Article 29 Working Party, Europe’s independent advisory body on data protection, has given the US government and European Commission until January to negotiate new safe harbour agreements. If these negotiations aren't successful, Silicon Valley could see some serious legal battles.
Since negotiators have failed to reach a new deal despite two years of discussions, these new time constraints place them under increased pressure. The threat is very real as European privacy regulators could begin issuing fines and banning overseas data transfers in the New Year, if a new agreement has not been reached.
Bits&Chips to launch new show in 2014: Smart Systems
Bits&Chips have launched a new show, Smart Systems, with the aim of “Connecting professionals in connected devices - from microsystems to square kilometer arrays”. The first event will be held on 19th and 20th November 2014, and is a combination of Techwatch’s established Dutch embedded and hardware events. Bits&Chips Smart Systems targets all industries and disciplines involved in the development and production of smart systems in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany.
Marcus Plantenberg appointed by PSD as sales director for DACH
Marcus Plantenberg has joined Power Systems Design (PSD) as Sales Director for Germany, Austria, and Switzerland (DACH). this is a positive move, strengthening the title's European presence although editorial control remains in the USA. Marcus is an experienced media representative, adding PSD to the other publications he represents, including SupplyFrame and the design publications of Advantage Business Media. Previously Marcus represented EPN & EDN Europe for Reed Business.
"Appointing Marcus to work with us in the crucial DACH-Region significantly enhances PSD’s foothold in Europe, and underscores our dedication to this important marketplace" Julia Stocks, publisher of PSD to me. "This move continues to demonstrate our intent to serve Europe as an important part of the worldwide engineering community, adding to our assets in China and the USA to provide the international community with a worldwide design engineering presence."
It's good to see PSD putting more focus on Europe, and I expect that this move will result in an increase in their revenue from the important DACH region.
Call for papers - DATE 2015
The organisers of DATE 2015, which will take place from 9th to 13th March 2015 at Alpexpo in Grenoble, France, have issued a call for papers.
DATE addresses all aspects of technologies for electronic and embedded system engineering, covering the design process, test, and automation tools, and includes both hardware and embedded software design. The conference is arranged into four tracks:
D – Design Methods & Tools
A – Application Design
T – Test and Robustness
E – Embedded Systems Software
Submissions are invited for standard oral presentation and interactive presentation, as well as for Special Sessions (i.e. panels, hot-topic sessions and embedded tutorials to highlight and inform about special-interest and emerging topics), Monday Tutorials, Friday Workshops amd the Special Days on “Designing Electronics for the Internet of Things” and “Designing Electronics for Medical Applications”.
European Court of Justice makes browsing the internet legal
In a decision laced with a surprising amount of common sense, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled that internet users don't break copyright law when browsing the web [see note]! This is the result of a four year battle, where the Newspaper Licencing Authority wanted to demand that some users pay a licence to be able to browse the open websites of UK-based newspapers.
Perhaps the legal battle shouldn't be too much of a surprise. It's long been the case that accessing some illicit material on the internet will land you in court with a charge of making a copy of the content, and the NLA does have a reputation of coming up with "creative" ways to try to increase its revenue. But it's clear that any decision other than this one would have had ramifications that would make the controversial "right to be forgotten" appear to be a minor issue.
The PRCA deserves huge credit for their work in getting this judgement. They've invested a huge amount of time and money to help agencies and clients avoid the need to have to pay for a licence to simply browse the newspaper sites that are covering them. Whilst it would seem obvious that there was no alternative but for the court to rule in this way, the reality is that to get to this point took a huge amount of time and money and the PRCA should be applauded for their tenacity and success.
Note: we'd love to route you to the Guardian story about this decision, but the lovely people at the NLA have said that they want to charge us to do it. So we've had to take the link away (and the traffic that would increase the Guardian's revenue has gone too).
New publication for the Russian market
TIMGlobal Media (formerly Thomas Industrial Media), publishers of IEN Europe and several other great titles, are launching a Russian publication. NPI (nowotsi promyshiennay inzenerii was launched with a pilot issue at Hannover Messe, and the first full issue will be published in October 2014, with four issues planned for 2015.
The publication will be primarily digital, with 7000 subscribers receiving electronic copies of NPI. The publishers also plan to distribute 1500 printed copies of each issue at trade fairs and conferences.
As with IEN Europe, the publication will address a broad range of engineering topics, including electronics, automation, production and maintenance.
It's good to see a new publication launch in Russia, where the opportunity for many of our clients isn't matched by the availability of good publications. It will be interesting to see whether the digital distribution is an approach that works with the Russian market: typically digital magazines still have significantly lower readership than print. With the limited number of high-quality, local-language publications, however, we'd expect that NPI will be a success, and an important way to reach engineers in this country.
Bits&Chips Smart Systems 2014
On 19 and 20 November 2014 the first edition of the exhibition and conference Bits&Chips Smart Systems will take place. This new event is a combination of Techwatch’s established Dutch embedded and hardware events. Bits&Chips Smart Systems targets all industries and disciplines involved in the development and production of smart systems in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany.
Bits&Chips Smart Systems want to bring together all the parties who are working on the development of smart information systems, from smart pills to square kilometer arrays, from clever lighting to advanced diagnostic equipment or production machinery.
The conference will focus on academia, researchers, designers, engineers, and technical management. The development of networked technical information systems, from hardware to software, from antenna to system, from sensor to actuator, is central.
Joost Backus
I was sorry to hear that Joost Backus of Bits&Chips has sadly passed away. He'd helped to grow the publication into a valued resource for engineers in the Netherlands, and was well-known in the industry. Read his obituary on the Bits&Chips website.
It's still all about getting printed magazines in the post!
OK, we're a long way from the days when your marketing campaigns relied on printed magazines being posted out to readers. But there are still many people in Europe who like - or even prefer - to receive their news in print, so publishers will be facing the challenge of physical distribution of magazines for some time.
Svet mehatronike has just celebrated it's first birthday and I loved the picture that publisher Jure Mikeln sent me of the most recent "shipping day". Clearly the publication is doing well, and the model of charging a nominal subscription (just 4 Euros per year to cover postage) is a strategy that readers like. I'm just glad it's not me stuffing all those envelopes!
Website relaunch in Hungary
It is sometimes said that the online opportunities are limited in Eastern Europe, with publishers focusing more on print titles, but this is no longer the case in most countries. One example is hungry where ELEKTROnet has redesigned their website with a new simplified layout that can compete with some of the best layouts in Europe. With Eastern Europe continuing to grow in importance for many companies in the electronics sector, it's great to see publishers in this region investing in their websites.
Mesago PCIM GmbH switches from i2i to Messe Frankfurt China for PCIM Asia
Mesago PCIM GmbH has decided to change partners for the PCIM Asia event. They will work with Messe Frankfurt China, organisers of the SPS Industrial Automation Fair Guangzhou, rather than i2i. This puts the power of two major exhibition companies behind PCIM Asia, and should help the event grow and develop.
In turn, i2i has plans to launch a number of local shows, sponsored by Bodo's Power China and supported by Chinese Universities. These Power Electronics summits will be held in Suzhou, Harbin, Xian and Chengdu.
Elektroniktidningen enters joint venture to launch Finnish electronics publication
Great news for engineers in Finland, who are still morning the closure of Prosessori: Swedish publishing house Elektroniktidningen has joined with respected Finnish journalist Veijo Ojanperä to launch Elektroniikkalehti, a new dedicated Finnish new service for electronics engineers. With Veijo Ojanperä driving the editorial and Elektroniktidningen providing the website and handling the sales, I'm confident that this will be a product that both readers and advertisers will love.
This is fabulous news. The Finnish electronics market is so much more than just Nokia: in fact it has one of the most dynamic start-up scenes in Europe (not just Angry Birds!). There is a real market for a Finnish publication, and it was a real shame that a high-quality publication such as Prosessori had to close. So it was especially nice to hear the promise that Elektroniikkalehti will, "pick up where Prosessori left off."
Elektroniikkalehti is already up and running. The website is www.elektroniikkalehti.fi or you can use the shortcut www.etn.fi.
Call for papers: SAME 2013
The organisers of SAME 2013 have issued a call for papers focused on Applications of Sensor Technology, which can cover example applications, systems, IC development, firmware or software. Abstracts must be submitted by 15th May 2013, with final deadlines for the paper and slides 20th June and 20th July respectively. Submission instructions and a template for the abstract are available on the SAME website.
Smart Systems Integration reports same strong attendance as 2012
The organisers of rel="nofollow"Smart Systems Integration have announced that this year's event achieved the same strong levels of attendance as last year. They've also posted some images from the event online.
New French Online Publication, L'Embarqué, Launches
It may surprise some people - George Bush amongst them - that when it comes to the IT press, France has the most entrepreneurial journalists in Europe. The media landscape is dominated by blogs and online publications run by the journalists who edit them. So I was delighted to hear that the same is beginning to happen in the electronics sector. Pierrick Arlot and François Gauthier have announced the launch of a new online publication, L'Embarqué ("The Embedded"), with a website; daily and weekly email newsletters and a quarterly digital magazine. They're not only informing French engineers, as they will also publish an English language email newsletter that will update readers on news related to the French embedded market. The publication will cover news related to embedded hardware and software technology, as well as including market research and issues related to working in the embedded market.
This is great news. In B2B trade media, it's becoming harder for large publishing companies with their unavoidable overheads, to be profitable. Either publishers need to offer a much broader range of services, or the model need to change. Whilst it's not easy for journalists to start their own publications, when it works a higher percentage of the income ends up with the journalists that create the value. This has to be a good thing. And France is suffering from a lack of electronics publications: there's no possibility that this new title will lead to an overcrowded market!
I wish Pierrick and François the very best of luck with L'Embarqué and hope this new title goes from strength to strength.
Fine Street adds control title to its portfolio
Fine Street has added Control Engineering Russia to it's portfolio, a great move that complements it's existing publications, including Components and Technologies.
Electropages to launch Chinese site
Electropages continues to develop and extend its reach. Following on from the recent launch of iPad and Android apps, the UK-based digital publication has told me that they intend to launch a Chinese version of the site in May 2013. With a promise to translate all editorial content, the new site will certainly not suffer from a lack of news stories, and I'm very keen to see the site launch in around four months time.