THz radiation is non-ionizing, penetrates many visually opaque materials, suffers less Rayleigh scattering than near-infrared radiation, and although it interacts strongly with water, it can pass through several millimetres of living tissue and almost one kilometre of mist. Many material excitations, e.g. molecular rotations and vibrations lie in the THz frequency range, allowing it to address the signatures of specific chemicals. As a consequence of this specificity, THz technology could be used in such diverse areas as: non-contact gene mutation studies; the detection of contraband and explosives in mail; the identification of drugs and analytes in blood; the imaging of the print inside envelopes; the tomography of bones; the identification of tumours and dental illness; the identification and imaging of fossils, locating water in concrete, as well as traditional applications in astronomy and physics. However, the THz frequency range has not been exploited fully to date owing to the severely limited number of sources available, which are in any case bulky, expensive, inefficient, frequently incoherent and not at all suited to potential applications. This is because the THz frequency range bridges the gap between electronics and photonics with neither a purely electronic nor a purely optical solution available. Yet, recently, solutions have emerged based upon the use of ultra-short near-infrared pulse technologies and the realization of a solid-state THz laser based on the quantum cascade laser concept. Although much development is still required in this difficult technical area, compact, convenient sources operating at ambient temperature now seem possible. With the development of integrated THz photonics THz sensing, imaging and communications systems can, in principle, be realized. This offers a wide range of commercial opportunities for Austrian SMEs and industries in the field of componend manufacturing (laser, detectors), system integrators (scanning systems) and biomedical suppliers (medical testing).