• Scientific and Technological Trends
• Economic Data
• Societal Issues
• Regulation & Standards
• HSE & Risk
• Business Tools
• Communication

About

The observatoryNANO project is funded under FP7 by the EC for 4 years from 1st April 2008. Its mission is to “to create a European Observatory on Nanotechnologies to present reliable, complete and responsible science-based and economic expert analysis, across different technology sectors, establish dialogue with decision makers and others regarding the benefits and opportunities, balanced against barriers and risks, and allow them to take action to ensure that scientific and technological developments are realized as socio-economic benefits.”

European decision-makers in governments, industry, and finance lack objective information for their decisions when considering a rapidly changing field of technology such as Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (N&N). The observatoryNANO project will help address this issue. It will collate and analyse data regarding scientific and technological (ST) trends (including peer-reviewed publications, patents, roadmaps, published company data) and economic realities and expectations (including market analysis and economic performance, public and private funding strategies). The ST and economic analysis will be further supported by assessment of ethical and societal issues, impacts on health, environment and safety, as well as regulation, standardization, and legislative issues. Although much of this work will be performed within the consortium, observatoryNANO has established liaisons with international organizations including the EPO, OECD, and ISO, and will establish liaisons with relevant European Technology Platforms (ETPs), ERA NETs, and other relevant EU-funded projects, to ensure that effort is not duplicated and that resource sharing and output are maximized. The purpose of this integrated approach is to develop validated methodologies that yield accurate indicators of the socio-economic impact of N&N RTD.

The final goal of the observatoryNANO project is to establish a permanent European Observatory on Nanotechnologies, to provide ongoing, independent support to decision-makers. This will take account of the methodologies developed and validated during the project, the functions and activities of other similar initiatives, and input from a balanced Governing Board of high-level stakeholders that will be formed during the second year of the project.

The observatoryNANO project is led by the Institute of Nanotechnology (IoN) (UK), and includes: VDI Technologiezentrum (DE), Commissariat à l'énergie atomique (CEA) (FR), Institute of Occupational Medicine (IOM) (UK), Malsch TechnoValuation (MTV) (NL), triple innova (DE), Spinverse (FI), Bax and Willems Consulting Venturing (B&W) (ES), Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) (NL), Technical University of Darmstadt (TUD) (DE), Associazione Italiana per la Ricerca Industriale (AIRI) (IT), Nano and Micro Technology Consulting (NMTC) (DE), Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research (EMPA) (CH), University of Aarhus (DK), MERIT - Universiteit Maastricht (NL), Technology Centre AS CR (CR).

For further information please contact the project coordinator Dr Mark Morrison (mark.morrison@nano.org.uk)

observatoryNANO is funded by the European Union under FP7. Contract number 218528.