On the 27th – 28th March 2012, the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development) and and the US NNI (National Nanotechnology Initiative) co-organised the seminal International Symposium on Assessing the Economic Impact of Nanotechnology, in order to systematically explore the need for and development of a methodology to assess the economic impact of nanotechnology across whole economies, factoring in many sectors and types of impact, including new and replacement products and materials, markets for raw materials, intermediate and final goods, and employment and other economic impacts.
Over 150 experts met at the AAAS in Washington D.C., in order to discuss issues, such as the role of research funding portfolios, intellectual property frameworks, private-sector and industry investments, public-private partnerships, and the development of relevant metrics for nanotechnology.
The conference was organised around a set of background papers on the following topics:
- Challenges for Governments in Evaluating Return on Investment from Nanotechnology and its Broader Economic Impact
- Finance and Investor Models in Nanotechnology
- The Economic Contributions of Nanotechnology to Green and Sustainable Growth
- Models, Tools and Metrics Available to Assess the Economic Impact of Nanotechnology
Dr Steffi Friedrichs led the discussion in Session 2: Exploring the qualitative Dimensions of the Economic Impact of Nanotechnology.
More slides and session videos can be found on the symposium website.
Follow these links to download the symposium agenda, view the slides and videos of the plenary discussions, find a full list of participants, and download the full meeting report
