GERMANY: The fifth Organic Electronics Conference and Exhibition (OEC-07), held from 24 to 26 September 2007 in Frankfurt, Germany, showed the strength and potential of the emerging organic electronics industry.

The event, hosted by cintelliq and the Organic Electronics Association (OE-A), is the largest of it kind for the industry worldwide, attended by more than 400 attendees from academic, commercial and government organisations from 22 countries. Delegates enjoyed presentations by nearly 100 speakers and the sell-out exhibition showcased 35 exhibitors from around the world.

In the plenary sessions, OEC-07 attendees were presented with updates on EU funding from Rosalie Zobel (European Commission), the latest organic electronics road-map from Wolfgang Mildner (OE-A), industry perspectives on technology for the newspaper industry from Allan Marshall (iMedia Advisory), and opportunities for new technologies to achieve breakthroughs in lowering carbon emissions from Richard Guy (Carbon Trust).

In the commercial and peer-review tracks attendees heard from key industry leaders on the latest commercial and technical progress across the spectrum of organic electronics and organic semiconductor technologies. This year OEC-07 was pleased to welcome back speakers from Cambridge Display Technology, PolyIC, Konarka, Nanoident, Microemissive Displays, BASF, Merck and Novaled, as well as many others.

OEC-07 was also pleased to welcome newcomers to its speaker programme such as Nokia, Samsung SDI, LG.Philips LCD, DuPont, plastic electronic, ITRI, CENAMPS and Dai Nippon Printing.

Craig Cruickshank, conference director, said: "Technical and commercial progress since OEC-06 has been significant. The main message to take away from the conference this year is that the increased number of market-ready products shown at OEC-07 is a clear indication that the industry is on the brink of full commercialisation." He added, "This time next year we expect even more products to be demonstrated and to be commercially available."

Scott Brown, Sumation executive VP, added: "OEC goes from strength-to-strength. This conference brings together experts from all areas of organic electronics. The programme content is world class… a thoroughly stimulating and rewarding two days of quality presentations and interactions."

First organic ticketing field trial
Delegates at OEC-07 were very intrigued by the printed RFID tags attached to each conference badge. The badges were scanned by readers at entry and exit points to the conference rooms and exhibition areas. This generated much discussion among attendees.

In the future, it is expected that low-cost printed RFID tickets (pRFID) will generate new opportunities and benefits for applications in public transportation, exhibitions and logistics. OEC-07 was pleased to support the world's first field trial of printed organic tickets developed by the PRISMA Project. The tickets use first generation printed organic-tickets based on radio frequency technology produced by BARTSCH and PolyIC.

Franz Padinger, CTO, Nanoident, said: "OEC-07 was a great conference with a great selection of talks of the highest quality from scientific papers through to industrial applications. And moreover OEC-07 was a perfect event to meet and network with the relevant people from the organic electronics industry."

OEC moves to Frankfurt Messe for 2008
Following the success of OEC-07, which saw visitor numbers up 30 percent on the previous year and exhibition space sold out months prior to the event, preparations are already in progress for OEC-08, which will be held at the Congress Centre Messe Frankfurt, Germany from 29 September to 1 October 2008.

"In response to the continued increase in delegate numbers and demand for exhibition space, we have secured a spacious and prestigious venue for 2008. The Congress Centre Messe Frankfurt has the size and facilities to enable us to accommodate more delegates and exhibitors in comfort and to continue to grow the event for the benefit of the organic electronics community," explained Craig Cruickshank.