The LASER World of PHOTONICS 2009 international trade show for optical technologies began today with an opening ceremony. In 2009, this trade fair, which takes place every two years, has been able to continue to expand upon its position as the world’s premier event for this industry. With 1,040 exhibitors – 57 percent of which come from outside Germany – the show has again made gains in terms of its size and international mix. Until 18 June 2009, the world’s leading event for optical technologies will be bringing together representatives from industry, science and politics and will be presenting the sector’s latest advances.

At 9:30 this morning, Jan Ostoja-Ostaszewski, cabinet member in the office of the European Commissioner for “Information Society and Media,” Klaus Dittrich, managing director of Messe München GmbH, and Professor Peter Loosen, chair of the Steering Committee for the World of Photonics Congress, opened LASER World of PHOTONICS 2009. The accompanying World of Photonics Congress, which began a day earlier, was recognized again and was also opened officially.

Photonics – a technology of the future
In 2009, the world’s leading trade show for optical technologies will again be an important “temperature gauge” that reveals the state of the photonics industry. Following ceremonial welcomes from speakers representing the areas of industry, research, and policy making, the trade show organizer, exhibitors and scientists participating in LASER World of PHOTONICS and in the congress began an exciting opening day for the show. “Our goal is to put industrial innovations in the international spotlight and increase the intermeshing of science and industry. As the leading trade show for optical technologies, we make a solid contribution toward further growth within this sector,” said Klaus Dittrich.
 
Photons as a force driving the Information Society
As “enabling technologies,” optical technologies support many processes and innovations across a variety of industries. Due to the participation of Jan Ostoja-Ostaszewski as a representative from the European Commissioner’s Office for Information Society and Media, one of the focal points on opening day was on information technology. Almost daily, solutions from the area of optical technologies are blazing new trails for the transmission of data in the industrial sector. For this reason, the question of which products will have a profound influence on future economic developments and how that will affect data transmission is one of the topics at LASER World of PHOTONICS 2009.

Photonics 2020
At the press conference for the “Photonik 2020” initiative, high-ranking representatives from the industry stressed the importance of continuing cooperative efforts on the part of the business, scientific and political communities in order to foster the development of photonics as a technology of the future. Participants in the press conference on 15 June included representatives from some of the world’s leading companies and institutes. They were led by the organization’s spokesperson Martin Goetzeler, CEO of the Munich-based company Osram GmbH. In the memorandum entitled “Photonics 2020 – Solutions from Light,” which was presented at the trade show, the members of the initiative emphasize the significance of optical technologies, because they are crucial for Germany’s business environment. German companies cover the entire innovation and value chain for the growing photonics market. In order to further strengthen the industry’s innovative power and the economic environment in Germany, additional investments must be made in structures, research and development.