National Nanotechnology Initiative to Advance Broad Societal Goals
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PUBLIC AFFAIRS FORUM An analysis of public policy issues and how they affect MRS members and the materials community...
National Nanotechnology Initiative to Advance Broad Societal Goals Nanoscale science and engineering are providing unprecedented understanding and control over the basic building blocks of matter, leading to increased coherence in knowledge, technology, and education. The main reason for developing nanotechnology is to advance broad societal goals, such as improved comprehension of nature, increased productivity, better healthcare, and extended limits of sustainable development and human potential. In the United States, the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) was created for nanotechnology research and development (R&D). It is a visionary program that coordinates 17 departments and independent agencies, forming an interagency group, with a total budget request of $774 million in fiscal year 2003 and a request of $849 million for fiscal year 2004 (details on www.nano.gov and www.nsf. gov/nano). Nanotechnology R&D investment by governments worldwide increased six-fold in the last six years between 1997 and 2003, from $432 million to about $2.9 billion. At least 35 countries have initiated national activities in this field, partially stimulated by the NNI vision and plans. Scientists have opened a broad net that does not leave any major research area untouched in the physical, biological, materials, and engineering sciences. Industry has gained confidence that nanotechnology will bring competitive advantages to both traditional and emerging fields, and significant growth is noted in small businesses, large companies, and venture funding. The annual global impact of products where nanotechnology will play a key role has been estimated to exceed $1 trillion by 2015 and would require about 2 million nanotechnology workers. On behalf of the interagency group, I proposed NNI on March 11, 1999, at the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), with support from Neil Lane, then Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, and Tom Kalil, then Economic Advisor to the President. The initiative was announced by the White House on January 21, 2000. As a result, OSTP’s National Science and Technology Council Subcommittee on Nanoscale Science, Engineering and Technology (NSET) was established in August 2000 to implement NNI. One month later, in September, the report Societal Implications of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology was prepared and its recommendations were reflected in the following National Science Foundation (NSF) program announcements and operation 416
of the National Nanotechnology Coordination Office. The NNI investment began in October 2000 with the following strategies: (a) focus on fundamental research (“horizontal” interdisciplinary knowledge creation with same principles, phenomena, tools, and structure architectures) combined with transition to technological innovation (“vertical” development from basic concepts to applications); (b) long-term vision as part of
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