As we reflect on what ST accomplished in 2023, we wanted to shine a light on our BCD Days, an event that brings our employees and partners together to educate and motivate. The event is unique. All employees on the hosting site are welcome. Everyone can ask questions, and the material meets all experience levels. Vendors also showcase how they use our product and work with customers to take advantage of our solutions. BCD Days are local events. We hold them worldwide and use local resources as we try to reduce our carbon footprint meaningfully.
The name BCD Days comes from BIPOLAR-CMOS-DMOS, which designates a semiconductor technology ST invented and was officially recognized for in 2021. Hence, while the conference covers all sorts of technological innovations, the term harkens to one of our significant innovations to show that we aim to make all technology more accessible to all our employees. The name BCD Days symbolizes the marriage of analog and power functions with digital processing. Indeed, working with analog, power, and digital systems is increasingly complex, and BCD Days is a way to help all our employees better navigate the most intricate aspects of our industry to ensure they can do their best work.
What BCD Days mean to ST
Inclusivity
ST is running the fourth edition of its BCD Days, with each edition taking approximately two years. As of today, BCD Days 4.0 took place in Cornaredo and Catania, Italy, and will proceed in Naples, Italy, Grenoble, France, Prague, Czech Republic, Shenzhen, China, and Greater Noida, India. Attendance varies, but places like Cornaredo and Catania had around 450 and 350 registrations, respectively. Even more importantly, we aimed to have a wide range of attendees, not just people from one Product Group. Hence, both events in Italy had more than 50% of employees belonging to a Group other than AMS (Analog, MEMS, and Sensor Group), including Automotive & Discrete Group (ADG) Microcontrollers & Digital ICs Group (MDG), HR, legal, and more.
Research has established that “employee training has a significant positive effect on organization commitment”1. However, too often, companies limit their training to a small group within their organization, thinking that others may not be receptive to it. BCD Days is thus unique in its reach by targeting all ST employees in the site holding the event. Put simply, we believe that every one of our innovations is the product of our entire workforce; therefore, all can benefit from understanding what we do, why we do it, and how we do it.
Community
It’s also the reason why BCD Days feature numerous technology demos. Beyond the knowledge-sharing and networking aspects that drive the event, it is a time to show everyone what is happening behind the scenes. From presentations on automotive applications, power devices, or new sensors, BCD Days brings practical technologies to foster a greater sense of community. A demo showcasing a sensor sending information to the cloud couldn’t be possible unless all employees came together, from HR ensuring a smooth working environment to the person programming the board. Moreover, we make a lot of the presentations, source codes, and videos of the demos shown at the event available on our intranet so staff worldwide can benefit from them.
What BCD Days mean to the industry
Collaboration
Unlike traditional training events that tend to be restrictive, BCD Days carve out a significant space for external partners. For instance, in Cornaredo, Siemens EDA, Synopsys, and Cadence all gave practical keynotes showing how the industry can come together to make innovation more accessible. The event enables ST teams to meet and network with other companies and test ideas, get hands-on sessions, or get answers that can jumpstart projects. From operability testing to software walkthroughs, BCD Days is a unique knowledge-sharing opportunity. Moreover, communication goes both ways as ST experts show partners how they use their tools, such as chip package analysis utilities, to get concrete feedback.
Cooperation
ST tried to include a wide range of partners. Hence, BCD Days 4.0 also included companies like Ansys, MathWorks, MunEDA GmbH, Keysight Technologies, Silvaco, and SIMPLIS Technologies, among others. Opening an internal event to such a wide range of external companies may seem antithetical. In fact, such an occurrence is rare in our industry as most companies keep their networking conferences behind closed doors and don’t report on them publicly. BCD Days, however, shows that it’s time for a change. BCD Days aims to bring technology closer to all ST employees and ST employees closer to their industry in the hope that others follow suit and the semiconductor world becomes more accessible to all.
- Jalal Hanaysha. Examining the Effects of Employee Empowerment, Teamwork, and Employee Training on Organizational Commitment. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences. Volume 229. 2016. Pages 298-306. ISSN 1877-0428. doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2016.07.140. ↩
