Inno­va­tion Minister Hanke: “Linz as a Central Player in the EU Chips Design Plat­form”

It all starts in Linz – including Europe’s chip future. With the new Design Enable­ment Team (DET) CHIP­SIDEA, Silicon Austria Labs is opening access to cutting-edge semi­con­ductor devel­op­ment for SMEs, start-ups, and re­search centers. Across the EU, there are only nine of these DETs – and Silicon Austria Labs (SAL) is taking on a key role by leading one of them under the EU Chips Act.

In 2025, Chips Joint Under­taking launched a call for Design Enable­ment Teams to support the design plat­form of the “Chips for Europe” initia­tive (Pillar 1 of the EU Chips Act). This plat­form strengthens Europe’s semi­con­ductor design capa­bil­i­ties and fosters a robust ecosystem for start-ups and SMEs. It consists of two units: the Plat­form Coor­di­na­tion Team (PCT), which manages the central cloud infra­struc­ture, and the Design Enable­ment Teams (DETs), which operate decen­tral­ized cloud instances and guide users from design setup to chip tape-out.

Austria Posi­tions Itself as a Key Player for Europe’s Chip Future

Under the name CHIP­SIDEA, Silicon Austria Labs leads one of these nine DETs, posi­tioning Austria as a key player in the future of micro­elec­tronics. Together with Pari­tyQC, SAL repre­sents Austria in this strategic program, combining cutting-edge re­search with indus­trial exper­tise.

“The semi­con­ductor industry is THE strategic industry of the 21st century, essen­tial for economic devel­op­ment in the coming decades. Chips have become a key factor for tech­no­log­ical sover­eignty, economic growth, and indus­trial resilience as the foun­da­tional building blocks of our tech­no­log­ical and digital world. There­fore, it is of utmost impor­tance that Europe builds a sover­eign chip infra­struc­ture. With SAL taking the lead of the new DET, we have achieved a true mile­stone,” explains Innovation and Infrastructure Minister Peter Hanke.

“For Upper Austria as Austria’s number one economic and indus­trial region, semi­con­duc­tors are a deci­sive factor for inno­va­tion and compet­i­tive­ness. With the new Design Enable­ment Team at Silicon Austria Labs in Linz, we are sustain­ably strength­ening Upper Austria’s role as a central hub in the Euro­pean chip ecosystem. As a key player in the EU Chips Design Plat­form, SAL opens access to state-of-the-art chip design infra­struc­ture and crit­ical know-how. This will boost the inno­v­a­tive strength of our compa­nies – from the auto­mo­tive sector to Industry 4.0 and satel­lite commu­ni­ca­tions,”empha­sizes Upper Austria’s Minister for Economics and Research Markus Achleitner.

Inno­v­a­tive Chip Solu­tions for 5G, Auto­mo­tive, and Industry

“With CHIP­SIDEA, SAL under­scores its role as an inno­va­tion driver in Europe. Our strength lies in the unique combi­na­tion of deep design exper­tise, cutting-edge infra­struc­ture, and an inter­na­tional team of highly qual­i­fied employees. The DET at SAL is not just a service – it is a strategic contri­bu­tion to Europe’s compet­i­tive­ness,”stresses Christina Hirschl, CEO of SAL.

CHIP­SIDEA’s tech­no­log­ical focus is on high-frequency and millimeter-wave chips for 5G/​6G, mixed-signal designs, and energy-effi­cient solu­tions for commu­ni­ca­tion and sensing. Appli­ca­tion areas range from auto­mo­tive and energy to Industry 4.0, space, and defense. First pilot users are expected to join in spring 2026 – a crucial step toward reducing cost and knowl­edge barriers and securing Europe’s tech­no­log­ical inde­pen­dence.

Further information: www.chips­idea.eu

About Silicon Austria Labs (SAL)

Silicon Austria Labs GmbH (SAL) was founded in 2018 as a top non-univer­sity re­search center in the field of Elec­tronics and Soft­ware Based Systems. At its loca­tions in Graz, Villach and Linz, re­search is conducted on key tech­nolo­gies in the fields of Microsys­tems, Sensor Systems, Power Elec­tronics, Intel­li­gent Wire­less Systems and Embedded Systems. SAL brings together key players from industry and science and thus valu­able exper­tise and know-how, and conducts coop­er­a­tive, appli­ca­tion-oriented re­search along the value chain. The aim is to accel­erate the value creation process from idea to inno­va­tion – with excel­lent re­search and economic bene­fits. Owners are the Republic (50.1%), the Provinces of Styria and Carinthia (10% each), the Province of Upper Austria (4.95%) and the Asso­ci­a­tion for the Elec­tric and Elec­tronics Industry (24.95%).