Governing Nanotechnologies: Weaving New Regulatory Webs or Patching Up the Old?

Excerpt

As the number of nanotechnology-based products entering the marketplace continues to rise, so too it would seem have the number of initiatives focused on governing the technology. Rarely a week goes by without an announcement of, for example, a new inquiry into nanotechnologies, such as the NSW Standing Committee on State Development’s Inquiry [1], invitations for public consultation on the development of codes of conduct for nanotechnology-focused businesses such as the Responsible NanoCode, the implementation of risk governance frameworks [2‐5], or voluntary codes to govern a specific stage of the technology’s life cycle [6‐8]. As these policy and other governance activities continue to gather momentum, it is interesting to reflect that these initiatives are being driven by a diversity of actors, both large and small, spanning public, private and civil society sectors. Seemingly, the issues of risk governance and the regulation of nanotechnologies are becoming as ubiquitous as the technology itself. …