The UK government has launched what it called a national strategy for power electronics.
The move follows a consultation with more than 50 companies and 16 universities representing sectors such as transport, consumer/lighting, energy and industrial drives.
The governemnt report concluded that the UK is well placed to lead the world in the power electronics sector, worth £135bn per year.
But it is a highly competitive market globally and UK companies face specific challenges, not least a graduate skills shortage affecting UK industry's ability to keep pace with incremental innovation.
The report also pointed out that there is a lack of strategic funding for highly innovative, relatively high-risk projects, stifling the aspirations of SMEs and start-ups.
Bill Drury, who chaired the Strategy Report on behalf of NMI and BIS commented: "The UK has the reputation, the strong market position - with globally successful companies - and the research prowess to lead the world in this field."
"But much needs to be done to protect this position and the key actions to take are: to create an environment that enables us to stay competitive; to align the interests of industry, government and academia; and to deliver more young specialist engineers through the university system," said Drury.
The first stage is the formation of the National Forum for Power Electronics with an ongoing annual review of progress against the strategy action plan. "We are looking for a practical and pragmatic approach that will refresh and re-invigorate the whole power electronics community," said Drury.
Derek Boyd, CEO of microelectronics industry body the NMI said he was encouraged by the commitment that the government has placed behind the power electronics community.
"The report is just the beginning and we will continue to work with government, academia and the industry to foster collaboration across industry sectors and supply chain barriers in order to promote best practice and support innovation," said Boyd.
www.nmi.org.uk