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In 2001, the U.S. launched the National Nanotechnology
Initiative (NNI), the federal coordinating program for nanotechnology
research which has channeled $7.2 billion in funding since inception.
The NNI has been a great success, catalyzing a virtuous cycle of
innovation. But as nanotechnology shifts from discovery to
commercialization – with approximately $88 billion worth of
products sold in 2007 incorporating nanotech – the NNI itself
needs to change. These are the key points from testimony by Lux
Research President, Matthew Nordan, before the Senate
Commerce Committee’s Science, Technology, and Innovation
Subcommittee.
“The NNI has funded prodigious research in areas
ranging from noninvasive cancer therapies to high-efficiency solar
panels,” commented Nordan. “But moreover,
it’s spurred a renaissance of materials science development
in the private sector. U.S. corporations like GE and Motorola spent
$2.4 billion on nanotech R&D last year – 23% more
than government spending at the federal and state levels combined
– and venture capitalists put $632 million into U.S.-based
nanotech start-ups, four times the annual figure before the NNI began.
Further, nanotechnology is having a broad-reaching commercial impact,
from billions of dollars worth of nano-reformulated pharmaceuticals
sold by firms like Wyeth and Abbott, to nanostructured composites and
coatings in millions of vehicles from the likes of GM.”
When the NNI took shape in 2001, nanotechnology activity
focused on early-stage laboratory research, and the U.S. was unique in
having a nationwide coordinating program for nanotech. Today, both
factors have changed. Nanotechnology has shifted from its discovery
phase into its commercialization phase – and at the same
time, the dominant competitive position of the United States has been
eroded by other nations. As a result, the NNI must change as it
approaches reauthorization this year. In particular, Lux Research
advocates that:
- The initiative should broaden its focus from basic research
to include precompetitive R&D on nanomaterials application
development and manufacturing scale-up. The Department of
Energy’s Nanomanufacturing initiative is an excellent case
study for this shift.
- A reauthorized NNI must overhaul its approach to the
potential environmental, health, and safety risks of nanotechnology
– presenting a comprehensive, interagency roadmap for EHS
research.
“The public sector payoff in nanotechnology
commercialization is clear: New companies and new jobs,” said
Nordan. “Consider A123Systems, which makes advanced batteries
with nanostructured lithium iron phosphate electrodes. In the
mid-1990s, the Arsenal complex in the city of Watertown, Massachusetts
was 750,000 square feet of empty, crumbling space. Now, A123Systems is
its biggest tenant, commercializing precisely the type of research that
the NNI funds – and employing more than 1,000
people.”
Posted April 28th, 2008
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