26 July 2022

What’s the role of geopolitics in chips production?

Earlier this year, the European Commission announced the European Chips Act, promising 43 billion euros in the production of chips.

It is an attempt to increase the EU’s ‘Chip sovereignty’. But how did we end up in a situation where a vast majority of the world’s semiconductors is produced in Taiwan, recognised as an independent state only by a handful of countries?

In our chat with Jan-Peter Kleinhans from a German think-tank SNV, we will try to untangle some of the geopolitical factors at stake when it comes to the design and manufacturing of semiconductors.

 

Also on the same topic: NOWMORE Questions episode 2 with Ben van der Zon, the Chair of Silicon Europe Alliance.

About Jan-Peter Kleinhans

Jan-Peter is head of Technology and Geopolitics at Stiftung Neue Verantwortung (SNV). His focus is on the analysis of semiconductors as a strategic asset, how resilient the global semiconductor value chain is to external shocks and how geopolitics effect this value chain. Jan-Peter testified at the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission and presented his work at the Dutch parliament, among others.

Jan-Peter has been working at SNV since 2014 and was responsible for mobile network security (2018-2020), in particular 5G security and the issue of the trustworthiness of network equipment vendors. He presented his work on 5G security to the Foreign Affairs Committee of the German Bundestag, the NATO Parliamentary Assembly and the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research, among others. Before that he worked on the topic area of IT security in the Internet of Things.

About Stiftung Neue Verantwortung (SNV)

Stiftung Neue Verantwortung (SNV) is a non-profit think tank working on current political and societal challenges posed by new technologies. SNV does not only invite government officials but everyone seeking information to engage with our work whether through giving us feedback on publications, participating in their events, or seeking direct advice. SNV’s experts work independently from partisan interests or political affiliations.