Nanotechnology and the U.S. national innovation system: Continuity and Change

Introduction The development of nanotechnology has been spawned a large body of research on the economic and societal implications of this new technology. Much of this literature emphasizes the ways in which nanotechnology research represents a “New Wave” of public policy and inter-institutional relationships in the U.S. national innovation system, a concept that I define in greater detail below. At least two closely linked elements of novelty are cited by proponents of the “new wave” characterization (for one representative account, see Johnson, 2004): (1) Federal R&D funds are focused on economic objectives, rather than supporting fundamental research aimed at advancing knowledge; and (2) the policies adopted U.S. universities in nanotechnology research represent a new approach that has been labeled “postacademic research,” emphasizing the commercialization of discoveries through licensing of academic patents. In fact, however, these characterizations of nanotechnology research, while accurate, highlight elements that are not novel. Although the policies and institutions within which nanotechnology research now is carried out have changed in some respects, there are also important continuities in U.S. public policy and in the ways in which U.S. universities have supported innovation in nanotechnology. It seems important to focus on the elements of genuine novelty, rather than emphasizing those that are of secondary importance, and I undertake such an analysis in this brief overview.