SmartX – THE EUROPEAN SMART TEXTILES ACCELERATOR
SmartX Europe is a three-year programme, funded under the Horizon 2020 programme, which aims both to promote smart textile innovation in Europe and the development of a value chain, and to accelerate the market introduction of the most promising prototypes.
According to various studies, the market for smart textiles and wearable devices is expected to enter an exponential growth phase with estimates ranging from a projected global market of almost $1.5 billion by 2021 to almost $3 billion for the European market alone in 2024. Most applications are concentrated in 4 main fields: Protection and defence, Sports and fitness, Industrial and technical applications (transport, architecture) and Medicine and healthcare.
Building a strong sustainable community is the long-term goal of the programme, to promote interaction and collaboration within the European smart textile industry.
The SmartX programme is led by a cluster of thirteen European partners from the textile and technology industries, mainly operating in the areas of manufacturing technology, microelectronics, data processing and IoT.