STI Policy

Illustration of the orthogonality between the concepts of “basic” versus “applied” and “technology-push” versus “application-pull”.

STI Policy Trends in Comparison: Biotechnology, Nanotechnology and ICT

This in-depth “Trend-Analysis of Science, Technology and Innovation Policies for Biotechnology, Nanotechnology and Converging Technologies (BNCT)” analyses policies pertaining to nanotechnology and biotechnology over the past 30 to 40 years: it specifically studies and identifies their character (i.e. the questions (a) “Does a policy aim to push a technology (‘technology-push’) or to pull research towards a specific application (‘application-pull’)?” and (b) “Is a policy focused on one technology field only or is it applicable to a wide range of technologies?”).

By AcumenIST, ago
Share of biotechnology patents by sub-areas, 1990-2012; (IP5 patent families)

Statistics & Indicators of Biotechnology and Nanotechnology

This report brings together the latest available patenting and bibliometric activity data on biotechnology, nanotechnology and related emerging and converging technologies.
The authors, on behalf of the OECD and its expert working groups, re-confirmed indicators and measurement methodology for the multidisciplinary and partially overlapping technologies with a view to establishing uniquely accurate and relevant datasets.

By AcumenIST, ago
Composite background image: biotechnology, nanotechnology, converging technologies, statistics and indicators, policy assessment

Visualisation of Technology Convergence

The report provides a summary of trends and developments in biotechnology and nanotechnology over the last 20 to 25 years, based on the longitudinal analyses of patents.
In addition, an experimental indicator, which aims to identify trends and developments of research areas of biotechnology and nanotechnology, was introduced: publication titles of the two technology fields were analysed using a text-mining approach, and an overlay map of the most often use keyword co-occurrences was created, in order to visualise the developments over time in each research area.

By AcumenIST, ago
DNA Human Background image

Genome Editing – Opportunities & Challenges

Gene editing techniques are a major advance that could have major benefits across the domains of human health, sustainability and the economy that go beyond incremental advances of past biotechnologies. There are, however, significant policy challenges at the national and international level related to the governance of gene editing. These issues were addressed at a Workshop held in Ottawa, Canada, on September 29-30, 2016.

By AcumenIST, ago
Development in nanotechnology patent applications, 1990-2012 (number of IP5 patent families by inventor’s country and priority date; see also: NOTE and SOURCE below) [Source (adapted): Steffi Friedrichs, OECD STI Working Papers, 2018/06]

New statistical Definitions of Biotechnology and Nanotechnology

Agreement on a harmonised application of clear statistical definitions of technologies is pertinent to the delineation of technology fields both with regard to each other and within the context of wider economic developments.
This document represents a review of hitherto used statistical definitions of biotechnology and nanotechnology, and provides recommendations for the application of these definitions for statistical purposes.

By AcumenIST, ago

Nanotechnology in the Next Production Revolution

This OECD landmark publication examines the opportunities and challenges, for business and government, associated with technologies bringing about the “next production revolution”.
Within the variety of influential technologies analysed in the report, Dr Steffi Friedrichs explores the role that nanotechnologies will play: in a Chapter entitled “Tapping nanotechnology’s potential to shape the next production revolution”, she explains that “[n]anotechnology has the potential to enable further innovations and establish new market sectors in the near future.”

By AcumenIST, ago