Flexible friends: growth in UK's plastic electronics industry

You wake up and instead of your alarm clock you reach to unroll your paper-thin TV. An enthusiastic broadcaster tells you your schedule for the day, your state of health and the news you want to hear. All of this information can of course be folded away and carried with you to work. You’ll then grab your coat, probably made of self-heating fabric, switch off your illuminating wallpaper and head out the door to face a fully digital world.

While this scenario may appear to be far-fetched, a recent strategy launched by the government aims to develop technologies that will enable products such as these to become reality much sooner than expected. According to business and skills minister Peter Mandelson, the revolution in plastic electronics is set to sweep the world and will fundamentally change the way people interact with each other and their surroundings.

Lord Mandelson is not alone in identifying the opportunities of plastic electronics. Mike Biddle, lead technologist at the Technology Strategy Board (TSB), believes the technology will prove significant in the next 30 years. ‘We are now at the point of turning science fiction into science fact,’ he said. ‘Plastic electronics has the potential to be pervasive in everything we do. Whether that’s through the newspaper that updates, or the near-invisible sensors that monitor our health. If we’re going to develop these products we need to start bringing together the expertise that can make it happen.’