Nanotechnology and Sustainable Development

Public institutions, academic researchers and financial analysts among others hail nanotechnologies as one of the most promising sectors of social and economic development. Calculations predict that it will become a trillion euro industry by 2015 and that it will bring about economic change of at least the same magnitude as the industrial revolution. Nanotechnology is recent, younger by some thirty years than biotechnology, but it appears at a point in time in human history where there is a convergence between the globalization of access to information and increasing awareness of the importance of sustainable development. Nanotechnology and Sustainable Development explores the ways in which this convergence leads to a change in the management of innovation - and ultimately a reshaping of technological democracy. The scope of the study is global, with a particular focus on Europe and the United States, utilizing several case studies of stakeholders including entrepreneurs, commentators, end users, scientists, and policy makers.

Claire Auplat (PhD) has worked on the co-industrial and institutional emergence of nanotechnologies for the last decade, firstly at Rice University (USA), then at Sciences Po's chair of sustainable development (France) and at Imperial College business school (UK), and now at Advancia School of entrepreneurship (France). She is a member of the French National Research Council (ANR) specialist committee on eco-innovation (ECOTECH). Her work on nanotechnologies focuses on public policy, risk perception and management, sustainable development and entrepreneurial dynamics.　

Part I. Nano, the Next Dimension of Sustainable Development 1. Background and Roadmap 2. General Philosophy of the Book Part II. Indicators of Nanotechnology Entrepreneurship 3. Introduction 4. R&D Architecture 5. Research Centers and Infrastructure 6. Nano-Related Patent Activities 7. Nano-Products Reaching the Market 8.Conclusion Part III: Nano-Development and Regulatory Practices 9. Areas of Development 10. Initial Positive Regulation 11. Initial Restrictive Regulation 12. Regulatory Frameworks and Exogenous Factors 13. Sustainable Development and Nano-Based Business Activities Part IV: Innovative Practices and Nanotechnology Institutional Emergence 14. Introducing the Case of the ETC Group 15. Theoretical Background 16. Methodology 17. Circumstances and Practices 18. Findings Part V: New Institutionalization Processes: Risk Management and Public Engagement 19. A Chronology of Nanotechnology Institutional Emergence 20. Risk Management and Institutional Emergence 21. A Case Study of Public Engagement 22. Interpretation and Findings Part VI: Towards A New Form of Technological Democracy 23. Sustainable Development and New Governance Options for New Technologies 24. Governance and Norm 25. Interpreting Change 26. Conclusion