The future of nanotechnologies

Abstract

Nanotechnology is the first major worldwide research initiative of the 21st century. Nanotechnologies are applied to cross industrial problems and are a general purpose technology that acts as both a basis for technology solutions or at the convergence of other enabling technologies, like biotechnologies, computational sciences, physical sciences, communication technologies, cognitive sciences, social psychology and other social sciences. Nanotechnologies are pervasive solution vectors in our economic environment. It is necessary to develop new methods to assess nanotechnologies development to better understand nanotechnology based innovation. As general purpose and enabling technologies, nanotechnologies reveal commercialization processes, from start-ups to large firms in collaboration with public sector research, and which lead to changing patterns of industrial organization which influence public policy initiatives to foster their development.

Introduction

The aim of this introductory paper is to present a state-of-the-art synthesis of current thinking about the management of nanotechnologies. As general purpose and enabling technologies, nanotechnologies promise to make far-reaching changes in how technologies are evaluated, how they relate to industrial organization and how such on-going transformations should be understood. Anticipating the future, it seems that nanotechnologies' generalized diffusion will turn them into commodities, creating more space for dedicated, higher added value applications such as nanobiotechnologies, nanoenergy or nanomaterials.

Nanotechnology is the first major worldwide research initiative of the 21st century. Nanotechnologies are general purpose technologies that act as both the basis for technology solutions across a range of industrial problems or as a nexus for the convergence of other enabling technologies like biotechnologies, computational sciences, physical sciences, communication technologies, cognitive sciences, social psychology and other social sciences (Freitas, 2010, Hyungsub and Mody, 2009, Kautt et al., 2007, Linton and Walsh, 2004). As for sustainability (Linton et al., 2007), the cross-industry and convergent nature of nanotechnology-based solutions promises to transform nearly every aspect of life (Compano et al., 2006; Tierney, 2011, p. 10816; Loveridge et al., 2008, Malanowski and Compano, 2007)—for instance, via having opened the door to engineering at the molecular level (Drexler, 1986, Walsh, 2004). Some see nanotechnologies as a field on their own, while others see their value in enabling a general trend of miniaturization in all physical technologies: either way, it is widely assumed that they will be pervasive solution vectors in our future economic environment. Applications employing nanotechnologies promise greater and more equal access to knowledge and information; new therapeutic interventions; improved environmental monitoring; greater safety and security; expanded communication capacities and many other industrial and societal applications. The enabling cross-industrial technology base (Fynman, 1960) they provide is being increasingly incorporated into existing products or processes to optimize production processes and produce better products with enhanced characteristics. In commercial terms, customers and users are only aware of nanotechnology-enabled products via their greatly increased functionality—in physically terms, individual nanotechnologies are invisible to the human eye. Their physical characteristics vary greatly from those of their macro counterparts, significantly affecting their internal design, their manufacture and their functionalities. The commercial promise of nanotechnology – as both the general foundation for and specific enabler of new innovations – makes it likely to underpin the next Schumpeterian wave of economic development (Wonglimpiyara, 2005) and its commercial promises has been formulated around its potential for facilitating such transformations (Selin, 2007).