The prospect for business and market growth of business creates new jobs with competence requirements in several areas.
The OE-A is an industry association initiated to drive and develop the value chain of the new, exciting technology of organic and printed electronics. It was founded in December, 2004, by 34 members who shared the vision of a world and market enabled by newly developed materials, production processes, and technologies.
The vision of lots of innovative products that only can be realized by collaboration between people, organizations, and companies is still the base of the work of the OE-A and is now shared by more than 180 member organizations from 31 countries as of 2011. OE-A grew by more than 50% in the last two years—a marvelous expansion. But the growth of OE-A is not only to be measured in the number of members, but also the output:
• The OE-A brochure, which describes the technology, markets, and applications and a matrix of organizations and companies contributing with their specific knowledge and competencies
• The roadmap, which describes the future development of the technology and is now in its fourth version and available for download or as summary in the brochure
The demonstrators
The working groups, collaborations, and networks—to name just some of the many results and activities.
From the very beginning, it was clear that this growth could only be achieved on a global base with the help of a strong backing organization, which OE-A found in the VDMA (German Engineering Federation). Although OE-A is not a typical organization for the VDMA, VDMA supported OE-A in its specific ideas and requirements from the very beginning. It’s also the base of the OE-A backbone, the secretariat and team headed by Klaus Hecker, Ph.D., the managing director of the OE-A. In 2009, OE-A opened its North American office to provide optimal services to its local members.
Key factors of success
What are the key factors for success of OE-A? A common vision and belief in the future of organic, printed electronics and a joint goal to establish the market, enable the technology, and make organic and printed electronics happen and create a new value chain.
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