Research and standardisation in nanotechnology: evidence from Germany

Nanoscience and nanotechnology are science fields which are growing extremely dynamically. Germany occupies the top position in Europe and is only second to the US worldwide, which can be attributed to growing research promotion by the state. Based on a general conceptual framework on the role of different types of standards in the research process and technology life cycle, we argue that the market success of nanotechnology applications depends very much on the development of corresponding standards, which clarify not only terminology, measurement and testing methods, but also regulate safety and health aspects and specify interfaces. Other countries, European and international standardisation organisations have launched first initiatives rather early. However, Germany was not able to translate its excellent starting position in nanotechnology research into a leading position in standardisation initiatives, which pave the way for future commercialisation of nanotechnology and also the basis for the next generation of research activities. Based on a survey among stakeholders of German nanotechnology research, we are able not only to provide a first empirical validation of our conceptual model on the role of standards in the research process, but also to define the major problems at the interface between research and standardisation, and finally, to recommend possible options for their solution.

[1]  Barry Bozeman,et al.  Technology transfer and public policy: a review of research and theory , 2000 .

[2]  Vincent Mangematin,et al.  Understanding the emergence and deployment of “nano” S&T , 2007, 0911.3323.

[3]  Partha Dasgupta,et al.  Economic policy and technological performance , 1987 .

[4]  G. Tassey.  Standardization in technology-based markets , 2000 .

[5]  Paul A. David,et al.  Economics of compatibility standards and competition in telecommunication networks , 1994 .

[6]  Niklas Luhmann,et al.  Soziologische Aufklärung 5 , 1990 .

[7]  Knut Blind,et al.  The Economics Of Standards: Theory, Evidence, Policy , 2004 .

[8]  T. P. Hughes,et al.  The Social Construction of Technological Systems: New Directions in the Sociology and History of Technology , 1989 .

[9]  W. Luther,et al.  Das wirtschaftliche Potenzial der Nanotechnologie , 2004 .

[10]  Mike Gregory,et al.  Tacit knowledge, the life cycle and international manufacturing transfer , 1997 .

[11]  F. Alan Andersen,et al.  The American National Standards Institute , 1984, IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Magazine.

[12]  Knut Blind,et al.  Regulatory foresight: Methodologies and selected applications , 2008 .

[13]  P. David,et al.  The Economics Of Compatibility Standards: An Introduction To Recent Research 1 , 1990 .

[14]  Knut Blind,et al.  The impacts of innovations and standards on trade of measurement and testing products: empirical results of Switzerland's bilateral trade flows with Germany, France and the UK , 2001, Inf. Econ. Policy.

[15]  Paul A. David,et al.  Economic policy and technological performance: Some new standards for the economics of standardization in the information age , 1987 .

[16]  K. Blind.  Explanatory factors for participation in formal standardisation processes: Empirical evidence at firm level , 2006 .