Danish Chip Agenda

Denmark needs a national long-term strategy for chip design

In Denmark, there is an ongoing discussion about how the country can contribute to the future of chip production in Europe. At Digital Tech Summit, universities and industry discussed the issue and received some advice from Meta: Go for the white space instead of the red ocean. The discussion highlighted the need for a vision to better steer the direction of the work.

Minister of Industry, Business and Financial Affairs in Denmark, Morten Bødskov also visited the booth for the Danish Chip Design environment at Digital Tech Summit. Photo: Mikal Schlosser

DTU Compute: We need a long-term strategy

Smedegaard’s proposal to focus on Edge AI aligns perfectly with DTU Compute’s research, explained Head of Department at DTU Compute Jan Madsen after the debate. (See the fact box)

Computing happens in a continuum from the cloud over mobile and Edge devices to the tiny sensor and actuator devices as part of the IoT. Hence, AI is not only the large LLMs executing in the big data centres, but also much smaller AI’s running on the Edge and even in small sensor devices, called Embedded AI.

"Today there is a huge focus on cloud services, such as the new AI supercomputer Gefion from NVIDIA. Denmark has a long tradition of producing specialized high-quality products, such as advanced hearing aid devices, and many small IoT devices for industrial automation, agriculture, healthcare, etc., will benefit from small, advanced chips combining analogue and digital chip design, including tiny AI architectures,” Jan Madsen said.

He also commented on the criticism of the EU Chips Act that is focuses too much on research. It shows that people see it from different perspectives.

"A Danish chip competence centre is being created with a four-year horizon (see more below). That’s fine, but Denmark needs a national long-term strategy that extends much further. If we want education and talent, we also need to research it. Research is a crucial part of the ecosystem. It is important both to attract young students and to attract foreign talents. We also see that
PhD students are supported by foundations, so there is a shared interest in this field,” said Jan Madsen.

The Head of Department also highlights that there is full enrolment in the new bachelor’s program at DTU “Computer Engineering”, which covers both chip design and broader computer design - for large to small devices. The admission quota was quite high to get into the program, indicating demand. This is backed up by the fact that each spring 130 students attend DTU Chip Day to meet around 20 companies within the chip design industry.

He agreed with Henning Lysdal, VP Photonics Architecture at NVIDIA that in the debate said, that money is distributed in too small units, so everyone gets a little instead of being more strategic.

"The government is looking a lot into quantum computing, which is also very hyped. We are still in the early stages of the technology. It is super important and can be a moonshot to drive innovation, but we also need more classic chip design,” Jan Madsen said.

The day after the debate the Danish government and the parties in the parliament Folketinget have agreed on the allocation of DKK 5.5 billion for research and innovation in relation to “Forskningsreserven” of which DKK 140 million in 2025 will be dedicated to supporting Danish participation in the Chip JU, the European research and development initiative within semiconductors, microchips, and nanochips.

"That is very encouraging to hear, but Denmark still need a long-term strategy and to allocate more money for the chip agenda," Jan Madsen said.

The debate will continue

The hall was filled with attendees for the keynote and panel discussion, and Moderator Jørgen Kragh Jakobsen that is deeply involved in the chip production agenda in Denmark was pleased with the huge interest at the Digital Tech Summit:

"It was great because we managed to bring our chip design activities to the main stage and spread the message, supported by Michael Smedegaard from Meta, who, based on his experiences in the USA, emphasized how important this is."

The hype around AI is significant, and the minister mentioned the inauguration of the AI supercomputer Gefion. However, one cannot ignore that AI is extremely energy-intensive, and in the field of quantum computing, it will take a long time before it can be translated into products.

"So, it is crucial that there is political focus on our specific area of microchips, as it is the foundation for much of what needs to be done. What we are doing now is a current technology where we can actually convert much of what we do into products for the green transition," said Jørgen Kragh Jakobsen.

Mark Riis, Head of Innovation at DTU Compute, collaborated with his team and the other universities and Teknologiens Mediehus/Ingeniøren to organize the event. He also noticed the interest for the field.

"We use Digital Tech Summit as a platform to set the agenda, and this year it includes the microchip industry. Besides the keynote with the Minister of Business and the panel debate, we have had professional sections, and the Danish chip industry has had a joint stand in the middle of the hall. We hope that this has brought the ecosystem together so that the debate continues about creating a common vision for the future work of the Danish chip industry," said Mark Riis.

Facts

  • As mentioned in the debate at Digital Tech Summit, Denmark has a strong position within edge computing/AI. At DTU Compute, our researchers in the Embedded Systems Engineering section work with this specific topic, focusing on integrating AI into small, power-efficient gadgets like wearable technology and smart sensors, develop dependable Edge Computing to process data near its source, ensuring swift and secure decision-making in autonomous vehicles and smart factories, work with embedded wireless networking within the Internet of Things (IoT) to facilitate seamless connectivity between devices, crucial for smart homes, agricultural technologies, and healthcare, and more to come. The work is supported by diverse foundations.

  • Danish chip competence centre: DTU has a long tradition for design of microchips and is a part of the Danish chip competence centre which should strengthen Denmark's position in the global semiconductor industry.  The centre is designed to support the entire ecosystem of chip production, from research and development to prototyping and small-scale manufacturing. It leverages facilities like the National Center for Nanofabrication and Characterization at DTU, which is one of the largest university-owned cleanroom facilities in Europe. This centre plays a crucial role in transitioning research into industrial applications, ensuring that Denmark can contribute significantly to the European chip agenda. Learn more in this theme

  • DTU / DTU Compute is deeply involved in the new education initiative Edu4Chip. Together with eight European partners, we have joined forces in Edu4Chip (Joint Education for Advanced Chip Design in Europe) to enhance chip design capability in Europe. The goal is to design and implement master’s study programmes that will increase the number of industry-ready chip design experts in Europe. Learn more 

  • DTU Compute offers a new bachelor’s program “Computer Engineering”, which covers both chip design and broader computer design - for large to small devices.

  • Each spring 130 students attend DTU Chip Day to meet around 20 companies within the chip design industry. It is a kind of career day and sold out each years.

  • From time-to-time DTU offers special courses for the students to dive into chip design. 

About the ecosystem for chip production


The ecosystem for chip production today is a complex and global network. It begins with signing a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) with a fabrication plant, commonly known as a “fab.” These fabs do not design chips themselves but manufacture them based on the designs provided by their clients. After extensive simulations, the chip design is sent to the fab, which then produces the chips. This process typically takes about three months, after which the chips are tested to ensure they function correctly.

This global ecosystem means that many of these processes are not localized. For instance, Denmark does not have its own fabs, although there are some in Europe. Often, it is more cost-effective to use fabs in Asia. This model has been in place for around 50 years, and while it has become slower and more expensive over time, the speed of processing has increased, and power consumption has decreased.

The exponential development in chip technology has been largely driven by consumer electronics. However, as technology has advanced, it has become increasingly expensive to produce smaller and more powerful chips. This has led to the introduction of various chip acts by the USA and EU to address these challenges.

Contact

Jan Madsen

Jan Madsen Head of department, Professor Department of Applied Mathematics and Computer Science

Mark August Riis

Mark August Riis Head of Innovation Department of Applied Mathematics and Computer Science