Optical Technologies are considered to offer a great business potential to Lower Saxony and in particular to the Hanover/Göttingen area in Northern Germany. But this potential is not sufficiently explored at present. The discussions between representatives of business, research and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) show that progress is needed in order to benefit from this potential.

The main principle of the Competence Network "PhotonicNet" is to initiate interdisciplinary cooperation within the framework of Optical Technologies in order to accelerate research, to increase the visibility of applications and to promote the training of the younger people with appropriate initiatives.

This kind of regional policy enhances considerably the possibilities for recent application fields of Optical Technologies and encourages their effective use on the market.

PhotonicNet creates significant synergetic effects which are well above mutual cooperation between partners. At this point we stress the importance of analysing teaching policy and labour market in order to describe their tendencies to our partners.

The PhotonicNet area has a reputation to be a centre of Optical Technologies with a great tradition. The cooperation within the Competence Network contributes to benefit optimally from knowledge and business potentials. Furthermore it gives a chance to identify new application fields of Optical Technologies. Thus PhotonicNet also deepens the activities of the general and national Competence Network kompetenznetze.de.