On Monday December 1st and Tuesday December 2nd 2008, the Dutch Foundation for Engineering of Fibrous Smart Materials will organize the “Personal Protective Equipment Conference 2008, Driving Innovation and Intelligent Public Procurement in the European Lead Market” at Hazemeyer Hengelo in Hengelo (The Netherlands). This is the first conference on Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to set the European agenda for policy development and innovation based on long-term end-user needs and technological development.

The PPE Conference 2008 aims to bring together a critical mass in market share, state of art knowledge, market intelligence and leadership to set the agenda for policy development and innovation based on long-term end-user needs and technological development.

The Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) market, representing nearly 10 billion euro, has been identified by the European Commission as one of six lead markets, thereby pledging to support these lead markets through targeted regulation, improved public procurement and intensified research and development efforts. PPE has also been highlighted as a priority in the Strategic Research Agenda of the European Technology Platforms for Textiles and Clothing, and Industrial Safety. Equipment of First Responders has also been identified as a key area in the European Security Research and Innovation Forum.