AcumenIST is a new concept consultancy initiative provided by experienced business leaders with a pronounced track record in both scientific research, development and innovation, as well as in public and regulatory affairs.
AcumenIST combines strong professional skills in the stewardship of emerging technologies along their value chains with established track records in both entrepreneurship, business development and policy making; it supports both the private and the public sector through technology-specific expertise, including (but not limited to) the following activities:
- Technology and market analysis of all areas of biotechnology, nanotechnology and converging technologies
- Statistical and economic analyses and impact assessments
- Conceptualisation and conduct of (innovative) technology assessment, technology foresight and policy assessment exercises, including participatory (stakeholder engagement) exercises
- Business development (including both project participation and private contracting)
- R&D vision setting, strategy development and implementation monitoring
- General consultancy services regarding IP registration/licensing, product development, due diligence, commercialisation, standardisation, and regulatory and public affairs
- Network-building and –support
- Project management
The AcumenISTs
Founder & Director
Dr Steffi Friedrichs has been a leading expert, policy advisor and business representative for emerging technological innovation for over 20 years.
Steffi made a name for herself as the founder and Director-General of the Nanotechnology Industries Association (NIA) group, where she established novel, collaborative approaches to the political representation of technology-based companies.
Having thus initiated numerous large-scale public-private collaborations and created channels for industries’ contributions to both international and national regulatory processes, Steffi subsequently worked for the OECD, where she developed its definition, indicators and impact assessment of biotechnology, nanotechnology, and other converging technologies, and led two international technology policy workshops on genome editing.
Wishing to support the advancement of transparent, science-based policy-making, Steffi gathered a strong track record in the establishment, development and representation of technology-based companies, and created and ran participatory technology assessment workshops. She initiated several outreach and communication initiatives to foster the public understanding of novel technologies. She was a Co-Founder and Member of the Board of Directors of the Chicago Micro- & Nanotechnology Community (CMNC), Director of the Master’s Programme in Micro- and Nanotechnology at the University of Cambridge, and Lecturer in Inorganic Chemistry and Solid State Chemistry at the University of Oxford.
Steffi has a GBR Ph.D. (DPhil) from the University of Oxford (UK), specializing in nanotechnology, and a DiplChem-Title from the Technische Universität Braunschweig (Germany), as well as a GBR diploma in higher education (DipHE).
