Semiconductors are a key link in the chain for Smart Electronic Systems that pervade our lives today. And it is true that without them the systems on which we depend do not work. But there are many vulnerable links in these chains, not just silicon. Economically the biggest £ numbers are associated with the systems they are part of, not the chips themselves. Chip factories (FABs) are huge mony pits running on tight margins ... a show of National chutzpah. If the UK made lots of systems then we would be vulnerable to the supply of chips ... but we don't realy make enough systems for them to be a National security issue or major economic contributor. Our national vulnerability associated with silicon is that we depend on everybody else to provide the multitudinous systems businesses and individuals want. However this approachis short sighted because it means we have no native capability snd skills to enable us to guide and advise the procurement of these systems, or to fill supply gaps when they or parts of them become scarce. Years of out-source policy from all colours of government have lead to Hollowing-Out all of (most of) our technology capabilities ... in favour of trusting them to the continued beneficence of others. And it was done in the name of financial prudence, despite the many warnings from those people who do understand how things work.

There is no quick fix for this. Its 25-50yrs of neglecting the role of technologists in technology that has got us here, and a cure even with a fair wind, will take a generation.

What fair wind? It will mean finding the *real* sparks and glimmers that exist in the hollow, and nurturing them! With real Love and Money! With a belief that this policy will pay-out in ~20yrs. 

Don't tell me that Gov. doesn't work with those timescales ... that's just a description about the consequence of short-termism. The USA has Darpa, France has CEA. We used to have similar ... our forefathers (and mothers) saw the need for investing in the future. Accountants never innovate, they only ballance the books.

Semiconductors are a key link in the chain for Smart Electronic Systems that pervade our lives today. And it is true that without them the systems on which we depend do not work. But there are many vulnerable links in these chains, not just silicon. Economically the biggest £ numbers are associated with the systems they are part of, not the chips themselves. Chip factories (FABs) are huge mony pits running on tight margins ... a show of National chutzpah. If the UK made lots of systems then we would be vulnerable to the supply of chips ... but we don't realy make enough systems for them to be a National security issue or major economic contributor. Our national vulnerability associated with silicon is that we depend on everybody else to provide the multitudinous systems businesses and individuals want. However this approachis short sighted because it means we have no native capability snd skills to enable us to guide and advise the procurement of these systems, or to fill supply gaps when they or parts of them become scarce. Years of out-source policy from all colours of government have lead to Hollowing-Out all of (most of) our technology capabilities ... in favour of trusting them to the continued beneficence of others. And it was done in the name of financial prudence, despite the many warnings from those people who do understand how things work.

There is no quick fix for this. Its 25-50yrs of neglecting the role of technologists in technology that has got us here, and a cure even with a fair wind, will take a generation.

What fair wind? It will mean finding the *real* sparks and glimmers that exist in the hollow, and nurturing them! With real Love and Money! With a belief that this policy will pay-out in ~20yrs. 

Don't tell me that Gov. doesn't work with those timescales ... that's just a description about the consequence of short-termism. The USA has Darpa, France has CEA. We used to have similar ... our forefathers (and mothers) saw the need for investing in the future. Accountants never innovate, they only ballance the books.