Visualizing nanotechnology research in Canada: evidence from publication activities, 1990–2009

Over the last two decades the scientific community has witnessed unprecedented growth of nanotechnology research in Canada. Although recent studies have shown that Canada consistently maintains a position in the first tier of productive countries in terms of its share of the world??s nano-publications, a number of key questions remain unanswered. Using a unique nano-related publication dataset, this paper combines bibliometric analysis and science overlay mapping to visualize the ??invisible college?? of Canadian nano research. The present analysis finds that the rapid growth of nanotechnology research in Canada is, for the most part, externally driven. In recent years, research content has shifted toward nanobiotechnology fields. The geographical distribution of Canadian domestic nanotechnology research is characterized by regional imbalance: most research hubs are located near US?CCanadian borders. Canadian nanotechnology scientists have collaborated with a variety of countries, but Chinese scholars in particular play a leading role in Canada??s research exchange across national borders.     

The Politicization of Science and Technology: Its Implications for Nanotechnology

The development of nanotechnology intensifies challenges to the traditional understanding of how to pursue scientific and technological knowledge. Science can no longer be construed simply as the ideal of the quest for truth (i.e., "pure science"). Science has become the source of economic power and political power. In this paper, I argue that nanotechnology is a cardinal exemplar of "this politicization." At the same time, I assert that this new scientific ethos offers the possibility of a better integration of ethical and philosophical reflections at the core of scientific and technological development.     

Nanotechnology and the US national innovation system: continuity and change

A substantial literature on nanotechnology innovation and commercial development has characterized several elements of these phenomena as constituting new developments in the US national innovation system. Among these elements are the (asserted) “post-academic” nature of US universities’ involvement with nanotechnology R&D, and federal funding of nanotechnology R&D on goals related to economic competitiveness. This paper challenges the “novelty” of these elements, while suggesting that other elements of nanotechnology R&D, including the extensive patenting of the results of nanotechnology-related research and the emphasis within many university-industry collaborations on patent-based channels for “technology transfer,” may indeed be new and raise questions for the long-term efficiency and innovative performance of nanotechnology-related R&D.     

National innovation systems and the globalization of nanotechnology innovation

While there has been much emphasis over the last decade on the science of nanotechnology and on the implications and risks of potential applications, it is now timely to increase attention to the emerging dynamics of nanotechnology commercialization. This paper examines, from a global perspective, where and how corporations are entering into nanotechnology innovation. The paper tests the proposition that a significant shift has occurred in recent years in the orientation of corporate nanotechnology activities—from research discovery to patented applications. It also examines the extent to which the character and structure of corporate nanotechnology activity by country initially reflects national innovation system characteristics and prior public research funding inputs in the stage when discovery is most emphasized. The results indicate that national innovation systems characteristics are significant factors in the commercialization shift of nanotechnology and highlight the importance of innovation system policy factors. We also observe the influence of cross-border international invention linkages, suggesting that national innovation policies also need to be open and international in orientation.     

Government-sponsored university-industry collaboration and the production of nanotechnology patents in US universities

This paper investigates the effectiveness of university research centers as a Science and Technology policy mechanism. Using the case of nanotechnology, it assesses if establishing dedicated research centers at universities influences their patterns of knowledge production, and specifically the production of commercially relevant nano-knowledge. Based on bibliometric data on patents and publications for a panel of the top patenting US universities (n = 82), the study finds that nano-centers positively impact nano-patent production at universities. Policy and theoretical implications are discussed.     

Patenting nanotechnology

Universities and companies are rushing to the patent office in record numbers to patent nanotechnology inventions. This rush to the patent office is so significant that many law firms have established nanotechnology practice groups and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has now created a new technology class designed to track nanotechnology products. Three big differences between the emerging science of nanotechnology and other inventions make the role of patents more significant in this arena than elsewhere. First, this is almost the first new field in a century in which the basic ideas are being patented at the outset. In many of the most important fields of invention over the past century--computer hardware, software, the Internet, even biotechnology--the basic building blocks of the field were either unpatented or the patents were made available to all users by government regulation. In others, patents were delayed by interferences for so long that the industry developed free from their influence. In nanotechnology, by contrast, companies and universities alike are patenting early and often. A second factor distinguishing nanotechnology is its unique cross-industry structure. Unlike other new industries, in which the patentees are largely actual or at least potential participants in the market, a significant number of nanotechnology patentees will own rights not just in the industry in which they participate, but in other industries as well. This overlap may significantly affect their incentives to license the patents. Finally, a large number of the basic nanotechnology patents have been issued to universities, which have become far more active in patenting in the last twenty-five years. While universities have no direct incentive to restrict competition, their interests may or may not align with the optimal implementation of building-block nanotechnology inventions. The result is a nascent market in which a patent thicket is in theory a serious risk. Whether it will prove a problem in practice depends in large part on how efficient the licensing market turns out to be.     

The transfer and commercialisation of nanotechnology: a comparative analysis of university and company researchers

Nanotechnology has been proposed as the next general purpose technology and engine for growth for the 21th century. Increasing public R&D investments are foremost reflected in the growth of scientific publications, while nanotechnology still is in an uncertain phase of development with various directions of commercialization pending. This paper focuses on the challenges, modes and outcomes of nanotechnology as an emerging science-based field in Finland. The paper contributes by interrogating how challenges and modes of nanotechnology transfer differ across universities and companies and determine outcomes broadly defined. It uses survey data covering university and company researchers in the Finnish nanotechnology community. The results show significant differences in the perceptions of researchers across these organisations, and highlight specific challenges and modes as determinants of outcomes. The specificities of nanotechnology are also assessed.

The Role of University Spinout Companies in an Emerging Technology: The Case of Nanotechnology

This study examines the role of university spin-out (USO) companies in the emergence of a new technology, in our case nanotechnology. Three unique data-sets based on patents, co-publications, and firm data pertaining to the unfolding field of nanotechnology in the UK were developed. Subsequent analysis suggests that USOs play an important though not a dominant role. Furthermore, the results indicate that USOs in certain subfields of nanotechnology do not have a strong and growing proprietary technology base, raising questions about the commercial sustainability of these ventures. Overall, we observed that USOs are important contributors to technological change in specific subfields of nanotechnology, but that other actors, notably, large firms and (non-university affiliated) new technology-based firms are even more significant agents of technological change.     

The New Business of Nanotechnology: Exploring Commercial Opportunities and Risks

There is an Alice-in-Wonderland awe associated with nanotechnology. While the technology is both exciting and hopeful for many good reasons, for businesses, and the lawyers who counsel them, the lack of certainty in areas involving potential risk is unsettling. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is only now beginning to think through how best to apply the authority it has under the traditional environmental statutes, and to adopt regulatory programs and policies to address the potential risks and regulatory challenges nanotechnology invites. While research is progressing briskly on key hazard and exposure nanotechnology issues, much remains to be done leaving commercial applications of nanotechnology in new, unsettled waters. This article identifies some of these challenges and the non-conventional, innovative ways that lawyers, business managers, risk assessors, and others must embrace to manage risk and avoid liability effectively.     

Silent innovation: corporate strategizing in early nanotechnology evolution

Nanotechnology offers a rare opportunity to study the early evolution of a new generic technology in real time. This paper suggests focusing more on the market formation side, rather than technology generation, when seeking to explain technology evolution. Applying an evolutionary capabilities perspective, the paper examines how firms organize innovation in the early embryonic stages of a technology and how the market as a selective device undergoes qualitative change as part of economic evolution. The traditional Danish window chain is used as a case. A model of nanotechnology evolution is proposed which suggests that nanotechnology commercialization is significantly driven by small and medium-sized firms based on their internal knowhow, with larger firms as important suppliers of know how. These smaller firms are adept at addressing social needs which appear to be key factors in the nano-commercialization process. A taxonomy of nine enterprise strategies for entry into nanotechnology is suggested. The paper identifies a marked shift in marketing strategizing among the nanotechnology innovative companies, from being “loud” around the turn of the millennium to becoming increasingly “silent” at the present time, illustrating the unconsolidated stage of the current nanotechnology market.     

纳米技术相关法律问题初探简

纳米技术、信息技术和生物技术是人类21世纪的三大基本战略技术.随着纳米技术的发展,已经出现了纳米技术侵权和利用纳米技术实施犯罪的案例.为了应对纳米技术发展带来的新情况、新问题,我国应学习借鉴发达国家的相关经验,尽快制定与纳米技术发展相关的法律.本文回顾了我国纳米技术的发展概况,继而对我国的纳米技术侵权和犯罪问题进行了探讨,提出了纳米技术立法的相关建议.     

Nanotechnology’s triple helix: a case study of the University at Albany’s College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering

In 2001, New York State teamed with IBM to create a research center for nanoelectronics at the University at Albany. Since then, the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE) has been expanded with over $6 billion in investment, attracted over 250 industrial collaborators, and awarded 72 graduate degrees. This paper discusses the formation of the triple helix center in Albany, NY. It then examines the impact of the CNSE on the regional economy and compares it with three other nanotechnology triple helix centers. The analysis finds that the CNSE is more successful at generating nanoknowledge as measured by publications and patents. Much of the research conducted at CNSE has been collaborative effort between university and industrial partners and often resulted in patents assigned to industrial partners. Since 2001, there has been qualitative and quantitative evidence of the emergence of a nanotechnology cluster in the Capital Region of NY. Upstate NY has become home to multiple nanotechnology firms and experienced growth in the employment in nanotechnology related industries. Potential explanations for the success of the CNSE are explored including the anchor tenant hypothesis and the entrepreneurial university.     

Research and standardisation in nanotechnology: evidence from Germany

Nanoscience and nanotechnology are science fields which are growing extremely dynamically. Germany occupies the top position in Europe and is only second to the US worldwide, which can be attributed to growing research promotion by the state. Based on a general conceptual framework on the role of different types of standards in the research process and technology life cycle, we argue that the market success of nanotechnology applications depends very much on the development of corresponding standards, which clarify not only terminology, measurement and testing methods, but also regulate safety and health aspects and specify interfaces. Other countries, European and international standardisation organisations have launched first initiatives rather early. However, Germany was not able to translate its excellent starting position in nanotechnology research into a leading position in standardisation initiatives, which pave the way for future commercialisation of nanotechnology and also the basis for the next generation of research activities. Based on a survey among stakeholders of German nanotechnology research, we are able not only to provide a first empirical validation of our conceptual model on the role of standards in the research process, but also to define the major problems at the interface between research and standardisation, and finally, to recommend possible options for their solution.

Global artificial photosynthesis project: a scientific and legal introduction

With the global human population set to exceed 10 billion by 2050, its collective energy consumption to rise from 400 to over 500 EJ/yr and with the natural environment under increasing pressure from these sources as well as from anthropogenic climate change, political solutions such as the creation of an efficient carbon price and trading scheme may arrive too late. In this context, the scientific community is exploring technological remedies. Central to these options is artificial photosynthesis--the creation, particularly through nanotechnology, of devices capable to doing what plants have done for millions of years - transforming sunlight, water and carbon dioxide into food and fuel. This article argues that a Global Artificial Photosynthesis (GAP) project can raise the public profile and encourage the pace, complexity and funding of scientific collaborations in artificial photosynthesis research. The legal structure of a GAP project will be critical to prevent issues such as state sovereignty over energy and food resources and corporate intellectual monopoly privileges unduly inhibiting the important contribution of artificial photosynthesis to global public health and environmental sustainability. The article presents an introduction to the scientific and legal concepts behind a GAP project.     

Concussions and youth football: using a public health law framework to head off a potential public health crisis

Concussion from sport is increasingly recognized as a public health priority. In response, all states and the District of Columbia have enacted youth concussion legislation. This paper first examines key developments in concussion-related policy and legislation and then uses the findings from recent scientific studies to highlight the need to incorporate evolving scientific evidence into concussion legislation in order to better protect youth and adolescent athletes. Next, the paper discusses the framework of empirical health law research and why it should be applied in the case of concussion legislation. Finally, this paper argues that empirical health law research should be considered in any decision about whether legislation can help improve the health and safety of young players, a particularly vulnerable population whose unique needs have not yet been adequately addressed.     

半导体纳米材料显现潜在手印技术的研究新进展

自纳米技术引入到法庭科学领域以来,因其独特的优势,拓宽了手印技术工作人员的思路,受到了国内外法庭科学家的青睐,成为当前国内外手印学科学家研究的热点。本文主要介绍了半导体纳米材料显现手印的概念特点,并就半导体纳米材料显现手印技术的发展历程和最新进展作了较为详细的归纳和总结。     

Mapping the nanotechnology enterprise: a multi-indicator analysis of emerging nanodistricts in the US South

Nanotechnology has attracted significant research, funding, and policy activity in recent years in the US and many other countries. Of particular interest are the locational characteristics of this emerging technology. This study examines the emergence of nanotechnology in the US South to explore questions of regional standing and spatial trajectory, using an exploratory multi-indicator approach. Our research employs an array of 10 indicators of knowledge generation, human capital, R&D funding, and patenting, to uncover developments, clusters, and linkages in nanotechnology emergence. Results indicate that although there is nanotechnology activity in every state in the US South, this activity agglomerates in a few locations. One emerging nanodistrict (North Carolina’s Research Triangle) has prior strengths in high technology research and commercialization, especially based on biotechnology; but other districts (e.g., Oak Ridge Tennessee and Atlanta, Georgia) that have strengths in certain aspects of the nanotechnology research ecosystem have weaknesses in commercialization. The study illustrates how multi-indicator approaches can be developed from existing databases, using customized search techniques, and how the insights from multi-indicator measurement can be used to provide insights for research and innovation policy.

The Fox and the Hunters: How IC Technologies Change the Crime Race

The article deals with the impact of new technologies on crime. Specifically, the analysis develops two aspects: an analysis of how new technologies are reshaping criminal typologies, dynamics and trends; and an analysis of the most important challenges that legislation, law enforcement and science have to face in order to prevent and combat Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)-related crime. From the methodological perspective, each section opens with a specific question and develops by trying to find a suitable answer. The paper starts by analysing what impact new technologies have on society and crime. It continues by examining how criminal patterns are changing (How does ICT facilitate the commission of new and traditional crimes?) and who these criminals are (Are criminals really going cyber?). It ends by focusing on the other side, on how crime is prevented and combated (How are technologies reshaping the approach and the fight against crime at legal, law enforcement and scientific levels?). The analysis and the results achieved show that new technologies are valuable means in the hand of both criminals and institutions involved in the fight against crime. There is thus an urgent need to improve knowledge about the phenomena, and develop new paradigms and theories together with best practices.     

Code or court: the financial-political aspect of correlation between common and civil law

This paper analyses the ‘law and finance theory’ and other papers which are based on it and finds that the theory has more in common with a political order than independent scientific research. This paper argues that, as our world becomes more and more globalized, common law countries in general, and case law in particular, have a little advantage when it concerns financial and business relationships. Consequently, such differences as legal origins can become a huge rift for global unity. It concludes that, in agreement with many philosophers, the best way is a ‘middle way’. It recommends the construction a new system of law, which combines the best aspects of the common and civil law families.     

医学院校医事法学专业课程的科学设置

为满足社会发展的需求，医学院校陆续开设了医事法学专业，但作为一个新生的法律发展方向，它还存在太多的探索空间。作为一个学科，医事法学专业课程的科学设置尤为重要。文章以此为契机，提出了科学设置医事法学专业课程体系的基本原则和具体措施。