Nanotechnology and the U.S. National Innovation System: Continuity and Change

摘要

A substantial literature on nanotechnology innovation and commercial development has characterized several elements of these phenomena as constituting new developments in the U.S. national innovation system. Among these elements are the (asserted) "post-academic" nature of U.S. universities' involvement with nanotechnology R&D, and federal funding of nanotechnology R&D on goals related to economic competitiveness. My talk 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.