Kick-off for the "Green ICT @ FMD" Competence Center

To reduce resource consumption in the Internet of Things, in AI applications, and in data centers, significant advances in micro- and power electronics, including their manufacturing processes, are therefore necessary. © Fraunhofer Microelectronics

With the development of modern electronics for resource-efficient information and communication technology, the "Green ICT @ FMD" competence center contributes to the climate goals of the federal government. © Fraunhofer Microelectronics

© Fraunhofer Microelectronics

Contributing to the reduction of the CO₂ footprint of digital technologies through research and development, the Fraunhofer and Leibniz Institutes cooperating at the Microelectronics Research Factory Germany are jointly establishing a cross-site competence center for resource-conscious information and communication technology (Green ICT @ FMD). The Federal Ministry of Education and Research supports the project, which started on August 1, 2022, with a funding amount of 34 million euros as part of the Green ICT initiative, a component of the German government's Climate Action Program 2030.

Digitalization is rapidly permeating everyday and work life – a trend that is unlikely to slow down. In many areas, digitalization can make a significant contribution to energy savings and thus to the reduction of CO₂ emissions through intelligent control of devices, systems, processes, and networks. On the other hand, with the increasing spread of sensors, electronics, and artificial intelligence (AI), the energy consumption of digital technologies themselves will also rise.

Using modern electronics for resource-efficient information and communication technology to protect the climate

To reduce resource consumption in the Internet of Things, AI applications, and data centers, significant advances are needed in micro- and power electronics, including their manufacturing processes. Modern connected information and communication technology systems increasingly have capacities for collecting and processing information at the edge of the network (Edge) alongside central data processing infrastructures (Cloud). This results in increased flexibility in optimizing systems between resource consumption in Cloud and Edge, as well as data transmission between Cloud and Edge. The development of electronics for resource-efficient ICT, in conjunction with Edge-Cloud solutions, can have a leverage effect for the German federal government's climate goals.

The competence center "Green ICT @ FMD" as a contribution to implementing the German government's Green ICT mission

Federal Minister of Education and Research Bettina Stark-Watzinger emphasizes the importance of the project: "Sustainability in digitalization is an important building block for achieving climate protection goals. We are already focusing on electronics for information and communication technology. With the Green ICT @ FMD competence center, we are creating a central contact point for sustainable electronics. The competence center at the Microelectronics Research Factory Germany is the heart of our Green ICT initiative. This not only strengthens climate protection but also enhances our competitiveness."

Building on the offerings, structures, and competencies established with the FMD, the planned Green ICT competence center can be implemented in a targeted and efficient manner. Applied research in microelectronics will be gradually and needs-based expanded over the next 3.5 years under the label "Green ICT @ FMD" with regard to resource conservation and a significant reduction of the CO₂ footprint in the further development of ICT applications and infrastructures in Germany and Europe.

FMD as a one-stop shop for Green ICT system and modeling expertise

Functionality, reliability, and ecology must be perceived, analyzed, and designed for information and communication technology that is environmentally and resource-conserving throughout its entire lifecycle. The entire lifecycle of hardware across all system levels must always be considered.

The emerging "Green ICT @ FMD" competence center will now coordinate and bundle specific Green ICT questions and offer cross-technology ICT total solutions with a high level of technological maturity from a single source for partners in industry and science. As an established structure for cross-site collaboration among various research and development institutions, the Microelectronics Research Factory Germany thus offers the opportunity to comprehensively consider and further develop Green ICT issues with its partner network and, at the same time, to ensure the necessary technical depth in overall system considerations through the technological expertise of its Fraunhofer and Leibniz institutes.

Solutions for sustainable digitalization

The offerings of the Fraunhofer and Leibniz institutes will be expanded in the Green ICT environment in a application-oriented manner and closely aligned with economic requirements. New application- and system-oriented Green ICT hubs will be established at the locations in Erlangen, Dresden, and Berlin as complements to existing research activities of the FMD institutes and as a basis for further research work.

In these hubs, all competencies of the FMD institutes related to key questions of future ICT applications will be concentrated. They will serve as the first contact point for project partners from industry and science, providing a particularly accessible offer. The Green ICT hubs, alongside the One-Stop Shop of the administrative office, will be the crucial interfaces to thematically bundled technology competencies and test and validation environments (testbeds). The Green ICT hubs will focus on the thematic areas of sensor-edge-cloud systems, communication infrastructures, as well as materials and processes for "Green Production," which are of particular relevance to industrial partners in Germany and Europe.

In addition to the task of bringing together the diverse research activities and existing know-how in Green ICT in Germany, further developing them as needed, and making them usable for industry, the overall "Green ICT @ FMD" project also includes accompanying measures for sustainable digitalization. These address early awareness-raising among the upcoming generation of specialists (academic Nachwuchs program – "Digital Green Camp") as well as further training for experienced professionals. The special requirements of collaboration with newly founded companies are addressed in a separate subproject – the Hub for Green ICT Start-Ups – to give emerging companies the opportunity to develop their product ideas in an environmentally and resource-conserving manner from the outset.