A key expert group set up by the Commission today set out guidelines on giving European industry a competitive edge in deploying the industrial technologies of the future (Key Enabling Technologies, KET). Combinations of KETs are embedded at the core of most advanced products, such as electric cars, mobile phones or a recent real-time avian flu test instrument.  For example, an electric car is a combination of advanced materials for batteries, microelectronics components for power electronics in order to reduce the weight of the car, photonics for low consumption lighting, industrial biotechnologies for low friction tyres and finally advanced manufacturing systems to produce electrical vehicles at a competitive cost.