Will Nanotech Be the Next Seed of Technology Growth?

Nearly every university and community seeks to cultivate a niche in new technologies ­ nurturing venture capital, technology transfer and knowledge networks. Many policies have focused on biotechnology as the kernel of future economic development. Meanwhile, budding nanotechnology has started to show its first blooms in the commercial sector.

Will nanotech be the next technology revolution? How can a community tell whether its scientists are tilling nanotech for new materials? How can one create a fertile place for nanotechnology to germinate, thrive and bear commercial fruit? The authors of a working paper published this month by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) attempt to answer these questions.

In Socio-economic Impact of Nanoscale Science: Initial Results and NanoBank, Dr. Lynne Zucker and Dr. Michael Darby of University of California, Los Angeles contend, "We are witnessing a new technology revolution in nanotech with implications for both society and the economy." They note that nanotech ­ the use of novel properties and functions that occur at the nanoscale ­ shares breakthrough characteristics with biotech by emerging from basic science after a key instrument innovation.

Based on preliminary results from their work with NanoBank, a public data resource they have compiled, Zucker and Darby observe:

* Nanotech follows a similar trajectory as biotech, in terms of patents and publication.

* Joint university-firm research on nano-scale has become widespread and has increased.

* Regional clusters have arisen around major research universities publishing in nanoscience.

* Nanoscience has been highly concentrated in the U.S., a few European countries, and Japan.

* China has recently surpassed Japan in total articles per year and shows signs of renewed efforts to develop nanotechnology applications.

Ten regions account for more than half (54 percent) of all nanotech-related articles with at least one U.S. author. New York Metro, the California Bay Area and Greater Los Angeles hold the top three regional positions, with the three combined claiming more than one-quarter of all nanotech research articles. The next seven regions, accounting for another 25 percent, are in descending order: Boston Route 128, Washington-Baltimore, Chicago Metro, Champaign-Urbana, Detroit-Ann Arbor Metro, North Carolina Research Triangle, and Philadelphia-Wilmington-Atlantic City. Notably, these regions all have academic institutions with strong nano- science and technology, but would not be predicted based on size, economy or overall science base.

The U.S. continues to dominate the field, especially in highly cited articles. Nonetheless, Zucker and Darby note the American share of these quality articles has declined in recent years, as other nations build their expertise in nanotech. [Note: The FY 2006 budget request for the National Nanotechnology Initiative is 2 percent less than the FY 2005 appropriation, marking what could be the program’s first cut since receiving its first appropriation as a coordinated federal activity in 2001.]

Leaping the divide between nanotech materials created in the lab and the application of these materials in the commercial sector may be difficult, since the best knowledge comes from working directly with the primary scientists or their students. Based on a subset of data from California, the authors found the number of highly cited articles and average wages determined when and where firms entered the nanotech market. Zucker and Darby temper these results by noting the small sample size and the limits of their current data set.

The NanoBank relates myriad public information, including published articles, patents, public funding grants, private financing arrangements, and commercial innovation and production. Academics, scientists and government officials will be able to use the web-deployed digital library, once online, to identify nano-scale research, where it occurs, who is involved, and related social and economic issues. According to Zucker and Darby, Nanobank “will trace the individuals and organizations creating and using nano-science and technology across a number of fields.”

Socio-economic Impact of Nanoscale Science: Initial Results and NanoBank is available for $5 from NBER at: http://www.nber.org/papers/w11181

Copyright State Science & Technology Institute 2005. Redistribution to all others interested in tech-based economic development is strongly encouraged ­ please cite the State Science & Technology Institute whenever portions are reproduced or redirected.

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