RVO Innovatiemissie Neuromorphic Compute (UK)

24-03-2025 - 27-03-2025

The week started with a welcome dinner overlooking the Thames on a beautiful spring evening. The next day an intensive scientific program was scheduled in the Royal College of Physicians. We were welcomed by Paul Huijts, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the UK, after which Dutch and British experts presented the current state of the art. After an informal lunch, we broke out into small groups to discuss topics like consortium building and funding opportunities, crossovers between neuromorphic computing and AI, photonics and semiconductors with timelines and scaling. The Wednesday was a working visit to the University of Cambridge. Here we were shown their impressive lab facilities and some spinout companies that originated from the university presented their portfolio. The way in which the university facilitates and supports ambitious young researchers in achieving their commercial ambitions was particularly inspiring. The university organisation responsible for that, Cambridge Enterprise Ventures, also presented their work, and handy handbook describing their methodology was shared (the TenU University Spin-out Investment Terms (USIT) guide). Thursday morning the mission was closed at the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, once again in the presence of the Dutch ambassador. He was very happy to see the interest and expertise of the delegation present, and we shared our impressions of the week. All in all, all delegates were very happy with the connections made. It is highly likely that some form of shared proposal will result from this mission. From a strategic point of view it seems clear that the Netherlands is in a leading position in neuromorphic and brain-inspired computing. This enviable position can be leveraged.