There has been a lot of anger about banks this week, this piece by Mathew Parris in Saturday’s Times is one of the more eloquent analyses of what is going on. Do you know what Libor is? Be honest. Can you unblushingly claim not just to have furrowed a studious brow over the little potted summaries in this week’s newspapers, …
The 2011 Report on Global Nanotechnology Funding and Impact
In the last 11 years, governments around the world have invested more than US$67.5 billion in nanotechnology funding. When corporate research and various other forms of private funding are taken into account, nearly a quarter of a trillion dollars will have been invested in nanotechnology by 2015.
The Russians Are Coming!
Or rather everyone involved in nanotech is beating a path to Russia and their new high tech cluster at Skolkovo. Not letting the grass grow under feet after splashing out a billion dollars on deals for Magnetic Random Access Memory (MRAM) from Crocus Technology and $700 million on organic electronics with Plastic Logic, to coincide with the St Petersburg International Economic …
RIP Charlie Harris – One Of The Good Guys of Nanotech
The world of nanotechnology is a little poorer today with the passing of Charlie Harris, founder and chairman of the publicly traded VC fund, Harris & Harris. Out of all the people buzzing around in the early days of nanotech, Charlie was one of the few people who got it, who understood that technology takes time to mature and that …
21st Century Science Funding as Entertainment
I was chuckling at The Nanoclasts take on the new US proposals around the new “Golden Triangle” of nanotech, biotech and IT – they must have seen once of my presentations! What the President’s Innovation and Technology Advisory Committee (PITAC) wants to know is What are the critical infrastructures that only government can help provide that are needed to enable …
Where Did All Our Nanotech Companies Go?
My colleague Dexter Johnson (aka the Nanoclast) highlights a forthcoming report about the decline in the number of Australian nanotech companies, but it’s hardly surprising. Before anyone heralds the death of anything consider this: The global economy has resulted in a reduction of the number of companies in just about every sector of the economy. High streets where a third …
Gold for Good
I first came across the World Gold Council back in 2002 at a nanotechnology conference in Ireland. While most gold goes into jewellery, and doesn’t require too much marketing, a growing amount goes into high technology applications, everything from microelectronics to drug delivery. Today we can publish the fruits of our recent collaboration with the World Gold Council, a white …
Dodgy Statistics and Seasonal Cheer (hic!)
It seems to be the season for dodgy statistics as well as good cheer – though perhaps overdoing the good cheer has an impact on the statistics (hic!). Firstly the UK Governmemt’s £1Bn innovation fund is accused of shaky maths by Richard Tyler in the Telegraph who also questions the wisdom of the Government setting up its own fund rather …
Long Term Prosperity is an an Ozymandian Dream Without Technology
The recent news about the debt problems in Dubai contrast with the glitzy no expense spared hotels and conference centres where I spent last weekend with the World Economic Forum, but probably do more to highlight the importance of a diverse technology enabled economy than any amount of lobbying we could do. While Dubai has led the way for the …
The World’s Largest Brainstorming
“World’s Largest Brainstorming” The Summit on the Global Agenda will take place from 20 to 22 November 2009 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in partnership with the Government of Dubai. The Summit will bring together over 700 Global Agenda Council Members, representing some of the most innovative and influential thinkers from over 90 countries – including 300 business leaders, 240 …