Nanotechnology innovation system: Understanding hidden dynamics of nanoscience fusion trajectories

Nanoscience and technology has introduced a new dimension to basic sciences and a range of technologies. Researchers from various scientific disciplines are aggressively getting involved in the relevant research as a parallel way to boost nanoscience competitiveness through academic research, and corporations are directing their R&D activities towards the exploration and exploitation of nanotech opportunities. For years, it has been said that innovation is achieved by breaking through the boundaries of existing technologies. This paper has argued how nanotechnology is driven by scientific research and in what way traditional disciplines are fused into this emerging area. We attempt to provide an empirical analysis of the dynamics of nanoscience fusion trajectories, which is typically a focused area in innovation studies. In this paper, we seek to understand the attributes that are likely to enable scientific disciplines to fuse into nanoscience through a combination of quantitative and qualitative search within nanotechnology systems of innovation (NanoSI). An insight of the similarity and disparity of fusion between Europe and Japan is also provided. Finally, we develop an integrative framework to explore the co-evolutionary nature of nanotech. The paper then tries to derive some implications that would be useful for science and technology policy makers as well as for researchers in traditional scientific disciplines.     

China/USA nanotechnology research output comparison—2011 update

This Research Note updates our 2006 and 2009 China/USA nanotechnology and nanoscience (NN) research output comparisons.A 2009 comparison of China/USA research publication outputs showed that China is about to overtake the USA in NN research output. As predicted by the extrapolated 2009 curve, China has passed USA in NN research publication output. This transition occurred in the 2008/2009 time frame, and if the 2011 results (taken at mid-2011) hold for the full year, will become quite pronounced (~ 20%).When specific sub-disciplines are examined, the differences between China and USA become more pronounced. For example, the 2009 paper presented the time trend for China/USA publications in nanocomposites, an important sub-discipline of NN. The updated nanocomposites curve has increased about twice the rate of the overall NN curve, and shows no sign of abating.The USA papers lead in the numbers of citations by all metrics considered, but the Chinese papers are showing significant improvement with time. Overall, the Chinese papers are cited very modestly, but there is a core of 'heavy hitters' that appears to be increasing substantially with time, and is increasingly making its presence known in the higher Impact Factor journals.     

Integrating nanotechnology into agri-food systems research in India: A conceptual framework

The implications of current trends in nanotechnology for the agri-food sector in India are assessed. Using published literature and patents data, a model to organize the information is developed through a specially designed database. The database allows mapping research themes in nanotechnology to specific sectors in the agricultural value chain to enable a rational assessment of the potential applications of nanotechnology in the agri-food sector, identifying and prioritizing research needs across the agricultural value chain, and assessing the environmental and societal implications of this emerging technology.     

Nanobiomedical science in China: a research field on the rise

Medical and health care applications of nanotechnology have increasingly attracted research and innovation attention. Nano-biomedical science (NBMS) is a term we use to define this emerging domain. As China is one of the leading countries in nanotechnology, but lacks a long history as a biosciences leader, this paper explores the competitive positioning of China in the development of NBMS. Specifically, this paper profiles the research patterns of Chinese NBMS in comparison with the four other largest countries in NBMS, using bibliometric techniques. The results indicate that China is a leader in NBMS, leveraging its strengths in chemistry and physics in the broader nanotechnology domain. However, China's relative weakness in traditional biomedical disciplines, and its lack of presence in highly influential global journals, could prove to be limiting factors.     

Literature-related discovery (LRD): Water purification

Literature-related discovery (LRD) is the linking of two or more literature concepts that have heretofore not been linked (i.e., disjoint), in order to produce novel, interesting, plausible, and intelligible knowledge (i.e., potential discovery). LRD has two main components that differ in their methodological approach to discovery: Literature-based discovery (LBD) produces potential discovery through analysis of the technical literature alone; Literature-assisted discovery (LAD) produces potential discovery through both analysis of the technical literature and use of selected authors of that literature. These authors generate potential discovery as proposers, workshop/panel participants, or in other active roles.The open discovery systems (ODS) component of LRD starts with a problem to be solved, and generates solutions to that problem through potential discovery. We have been using ODS LRD to identify potential treatments or preventative actions for challenging medical problems, among myriad other applications. The previous four papers in this Special Issue describe the application of ODS LRD (specifically, the ODS LBD variant) to Raynaud's Phenomenon (RP), cataracts, Parkinson's Disease (PD), and Multiple Sclerosis (MS).One goal of the present study was to determine whether LRD could be successfully applied (for the first time) to a challenging non-medical technical problem to generate potential discovery. The second goal was to explore the use of both LRD variants (LBD and LAD) to a non-medical technical problem. We selected the problem of water purification (WP) because of universal applicability and sponsor interest.We used LRD to identify purification concepts, technology components and systems that could lead to improved water purification techniques. We accessed many disparate disciplines to identify purification concepts from literatures not normally associated with water purification. We used two LBD approaches, Cluster Filtering and Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI), to search for potential discovery. We generated voluminous amounts of potential discovery, and believe we have only scratched the surface of what is possible. We also ran a short experiment using LAD to identify experts associated with potential discovery concepts, and use their expertise to generate potential discovery for water purification.     

Crystallizing the nanotechnology debate

Much of the initial commentary on nanotechnology assumed, implicitly or explicitly, that nanotechnology represented a radical discontinuity from existing science and technology. The birth of the nanotechnology debate was marked by the differences of opinion as to whether the technology's outcomes would be positive or negative. The authors trace the journey from this polarized debate to the current discussion of nanotechnology, finding that the latter is still conducted in the parameters set by the initial utopian and dystopian extremes. Yet the discussion now focuses on defining the technology and identifying the social and ethical issues, which are often reduced to the potential risks of toxicity and the need for public engagement. The authors argue that nanotechnology is erroneously treated as homogeneous and is under-analysed; it is the very diversity and transdisciplinary nature of nanotechnology that makes it distinctive and interesting to social science enquiry. In this way, it may yet be prototypical of Gibbons et al. 's 'Mode 2' science. The focus of social science research should be less on the implications of nanotechnology, and more on its creation, the processes through which it develops and the alternative perspectives underlying this. The authors conclude by outlining core elements of a social science agenda for nanotechnology.     

National nanotechnology research prominence

A new bibliometric technique enables one to distinguish high emergence topical content. This technique can be applied to sets of research publication abstracts reflecting a given technical domain (here, nanotechnology) to score cutting edge research terms. The resulting high emergence terms warrant special consideration in setting R&D priorities. The researchers (individuals, organizations, or countries) whose publications address those emergent terms heavily deserve consideration as possible leaders in that technical domain. This paper studies nanotechnology research publications using the new emergence scoring in conjunction with established bibliometric publication and citation measures. Findings challenge U.S. superiority in cutting edge nanotechnology research. China shows strongest at addressing emergent nanotechnology topics, followed by the U.S., South Korea, India, and, surprisingly, Iran.     

Literature-Related Discovery (LRD): Introduction and background

Discovery in science is the generation of novel, interesting, plausible, and intelligible knowledge about the objects of study. Literature-related discovery (LRD) is the linking of two or more literature concepts that have heretofore not been linked (i.e., disjoint), in order to produce novel, interesting, plausible, and intelligible knowledge (i.e., potential discovery). LRD has two main components that differ in their methodological approach to discovery:

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Literature-based discovery (LBD) produces potential discovery through analysis of the technical literature alone.

•

Literature-assisted discovery (LAD) produces potential discovery through both analysis of the technical literature and use of selected authors of that literature. These authors generate potential discovery as proposers, workshop/panel participants, or in other active roles.

LRD offers the promise of large amounts of potential discovery, for the following reasons:

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the burgeoning technical literature contains a very large pool of technical concepts in myriad technical areas;

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researchers spend full time trying to cover the literature in their own research fields and are relatively unfamiliar with research in other especially disparate fields of research;

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the large number of technical concepts (and disparate technical concepts) means that many combinations of especially disparate technical concepts exist

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by the laws of probability, some of these combinations will produce novel, interesting, plausible, and intelligible knowledge about the objects of study.

This Special Issue presents the LRD methodology and voluminous discovery results from five problem areas: four medical (treatments for Parkinson's Disease (PD), Multiple Sclerosis (MS), Raynaud's Phenomenon (RP), and Cataracts) and one non-medical (Water Purification (WP)). In particular, the open discovery systems (ODS) aspect of LRD (start with problem, generate potential solution(s), or vice versa) is addressed, rather than the closed discovery systems (CDS) aspect (start with problem and potential solution(s), generate linking mechanism(s)). In the presentation of potential discovery, a ‘vetting’ process is used that insures both requirements for ODS LBD are met: concepts are linked that have not been linked previously, and novel, interesting, plausible, and intelligible knowledge is produced.The potential discoveries for the PD, MS, Cataracts, and WP problems are the first we have seen reported by this ODS LBD approach, and the numbers of potential discoveries for the ODS LBD benchmark RP problem are almost two orders of magnitude greater than those reported in the open literature by any other ODS LBD researcher who has addressed this benchmark RP problem. The WP problem is the first non-medical technical topic to have been addressed successfully by ODS LBD.In all cases, but especially the medical, we have barely scratched the surface of quantity and quality of potential discovery that could be generated with adequately resourced studies. Based on the many potential discoveries we have obtained, and the promise of far more potential discoveries with adequately resourced studies, we have generated a new paradigm relative to discovery: while the key challenge in traditional discovery is finding a needle-in-a-haystack, the key challenge in ODS LRD (used appropriately) is handling the overwhelming amount of potential discovery available.Additionally, it is our thesis, as the specific ODS LBD studies will demonstrate, that synergistic combinations of our mainly individual potential discoveries are themselves potential discoveries. We demonstrate throughout this Special Issue the synergistic effects of combining a very few potential discoveries or interesting core literature concepts, and believe that these synergistic benefits are operable at larger scales of combination. In the final lessons-learned paper of this Special Issue, we also show that providing evidence for the synergistic benefits of large numbers of potential discoveries or interesting core concepts is very difficult due to the large numbers of potential combinations involved.One variant of the LAD operational mode (identifying disparate discipline recipients for Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) notifications in order to stimulate proposals of new ideas from these disparate disciplines) is presented for WP. Other possible applications of LAD include:

1.

Recipients of solicitation announcements (other solicitations similar to BAA, journal Special Issue calls for papers, etc),

2.

Participants in Workshops, Advisory Panels, Review Panels, Roadmaps, and War Games,

3.

Points of Contact for Field Science Advisors, Foreign Field Offices, Program Officer site visits, and potential transitions.

     

No escape from the dominant theories: The analysis of intellectual pillars of technology management in developing countries

This paper aims to identify the intellectual bases of the technology management (TM) literature generated in developing countries using citation and co-citation analyses and answer the question of whether the intellectual bases of the TM literature created by authors in developing countries diverge from those of the global TM literature. Based on a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of ten technology-innovation management (TIM) specialty journals through the period of 1998-2007, this study produces three important findings. First, the TM literature generated in developing countries is dominated by the knowledge and theories created in developed countries. Second, among these knowledge sources some authors from developing countries and focusing on the specialties of developing countries, such as Kim and Lall, come into prominence; however these authors are not even mentioned in the previous bibliometric studies covering overall TM research. Finally the researchers in developing countries tackle with the issues or topics specific to their own context through combining three major bulks of literature. These are (i) resource-based view (RBV)/core competencies and organizational learning related research; (ii) literature dealing with the evolutionary theorizing on economic change and growth and (iii) literature related to technological capabilities, technology transfer and industrialization in developing countries.     

Understanding reflexive systems of innovation: An analysis of Swedish nanotechnology discourse and organization

We seek to understand how nanotechnology can contribute to the development of a more sustainable society in general, and to investigate Swedish nanotechnology in particular. On the one hand, the research interest is on how nanoscience can be turned into used products, that is, innovation. On the other hand, we acknowledge that innovation itself is the main producer of risk in modern societies. Inspired by sociology and economics of innovation, we try to capture this by introducing the term 'reflexive system of innovation' to denote a system made up of heterogenous elements, such as discursive components (expressions of knowledge and normative and regulative stands) and organizational components (actors and knowledge), evolving in a non-linear way through external influences as well as self re-enforcing and self-regulating processes. We present the evolution of a Swedish nanotechnology system from the 1980s to the present, as it moves through phases characterized by different kinds of discourse and organization. Evaluating the Swedish case against the concept of a reflexive system of innovation, we find advanced academic knowledge production but a lack of interconnectivity between actors, few actors outside the research community entering the system and a weak function of anticipation, guidance and risk handling. Broad national nanotechnology initiatives (NNIs) may be important for the crystallization of the desired processes, but because neither innovation nor risk can be fully contained, an NNI may only be part of the input to a fully fledged reflexive system of innovation in nanotechnology.     

Nanotechnology as general-purpose technology: empirical evidence and implications

Developments in nanotechnology are poised to have a pervasive effect on various industries for years to come and nanotechnology management research is beginning to appear in peer-reviewed management journals. Much of the research on this early, emergent technology is focused on issues of definition and identification of technology type. In this study, we searched the US Patents and Trademarks Office database and used an expert validation methodology to develop a sample of the first 25 years (1980–2004) of nanotechnology patenting activity. We analysed this data for early evidence that nanotechnology is a general-purpose technology (GPT) – a transformative technology characterised by its pervasiveness, improvement over time, and pattern of diffusion. Our findings indicate that nanotechnology patenting activity has been growing in intensity and relative to overall patenting activity, and that it is pervasive across industry and technology sectors. Implications of nanotechnology as a GPT are discussed.     

The state of research on technological uncertainties, social uncertainties and emerging markets: A multidisciplinary literature review

The objective of this research work is to study the progress of research on technological uncertainties, social uncertainties and emerging markets and outline and identify the key disciplines, journals, articles and authors. For this the author studied the existing literature from the various fields in which technological uncertainties, social uncertainties and emerging markets research work have been published using ISI Web of Knowledge database. The paper finds that there is increasing research work on technological uncertainties, social uncertainties and emerging markets and the bibliographical search resulted in ninety-one documents written by one-hundred-sixty-one authors in eighty-four journals in seventy-two disciplines. The five major disciplines and their underlying journals are business and economics, agriculture, psychology, public administration, and environmental sciences and ecology accounting for majority of publications. In journals the most prolific, measured by number of articles published are Harvard Business Review, Social Science and Medicine, World Development, and Higher Education; and most influential, measured by the global citation received, are Harvard Business Review, Social Science and Medicine and Sociological Review. The top 10% of the journals are responsible for 23% of all publications but 85% of all global citations received. This highlights that despite the high, diverse and increasing number of journals; only few are dominating and shaping the research arena of technological uncertainties, social uncertainties and emerging markets. Further, in the ten most cited articles, no author appears more than once.     

Assessing emerging technologies—Methodological challenges and the case of nanotechnologies

Technology Assessment reflecting on R&D and technological trends in the area of nanotechnology and its implications is confronted with the problem that most scientific endeavours of nanotechnology can be allocated to basic research while most of the technological visions related to nanotechnology are far (> 10 years) in the future. Since technology assessment has to integrate the socio-economic context of a technical product in order to be comprehensive, in the case of nanotechnology a preparing step is necessary which connects the ongoing basic research with the visions communicated either by the scientist themselves or by the media. In this paper we propose to adapt the well known tool ‘roadmapping’ to contribute to the solution of this problem. This poses new challenges for roadmapping methodology in terms of level of aggregation and timeframe.     

技术标准形成过程中规制的作用机理研究综述

对2010-2017年技术标准规制领域的文献进行了系统汇集、整理、分类和分析。首先，基于规制主体视角，将技术标准形成过程中的规制划分为政府规制（G）、联盟/协会规制（A）和法律规制（L）3条路径；其次，对3条路径的构成维度进行分解；最后，阐述每一维度下各种要素对技术标准形成的作用，以期为该领域的理论研究提供更坚实的基础，并对我国自主技术标准实践提供一定借鉴。     

The Game Academics Play: Editors versus Authors

This article studies a game between authors and editors. Editors play as leaders while authors are the followers. Authors maximize the number of publications seeking to increase the impact of their work in the literature, captured by citations. Editors maximize the quality of papers they publish in order to increase the reputation of their journals. The main results are: (i) rules aimed at increasing scholars productivity, such as requirements to obtain tenure, increase author's citations and journal's quality; (ii) editors willingness to build journal's reputation hurt journal's quality and increase author's publications; (iii) journal's reputation increases citations and journal's quality.     

Nanotechnology: Future military environmental health considerations

Lux Research estimates that more than $8.6 billion will be spent in 2005 on nanotechnology R&D worldwide and that the majority of funds are shifting from basic research to the development of applications. Little is known about the environmental and health risks of manufactured nanomaterials. In 2003 the European Union funded the NANOSAFT project to assess the technology's environmental and health risks. In July 2003 the US Environmental Protection Agency invited proposals to study environmental and health impacts of nanotechnology. The U.S. government has budgeted $39 million in 2006 for studies of environmental, health, and safety impacts of nanotechnology.The military is a major force in nanotechnology R&D; hence, it can play a key role in understanding and managing nanotechnology risks. As a result, the Millennium Project conducted a two-round Delphi to identify and rate important forms of nanotechnology-related environmental pollution and health hazards that could result from any military activities and to suggest military research that might reduce these problems. The full report is available in the CD Chapter 5 attached to the 2005 State of the Future report. An expert panel on these issues was asked its judgments on the full range of nanotechnologies of the present and future—from nanobulk-process nano (simple structures) and top-down nano (low-volume production) to nano-built nano (high-volume, low-cost, complex high-performance components and even whole products).     

Economics research in Canada: a long-run assessment of journal publications

Abstract.  We examine the publications of authors affiliated with an economics research institution in Canada in (1) the Top-10 journals in economics according to journals' impact factors, and (2) the Canadian Journal of Economics . We consider all publications in the even years from 1980 to 2000. Canadian economists contributed about 5% of publications in the Top-10 journals and about 55% of publications in the Canadian Journal of Economics over this period. We identify the most active research centres and identify trends in their relative outputs over time. Those research centres successful in publishing in the Top-10 journals are found to also dominate the Canadian Journal of Economics . Additionally, we check the robustness of our findings with respect to journal selection, and we present data on authors' PhD origin, thereby indicating output and its concentration in graduate education.     

On the Market for Principles of Economics Textbooks: Innovation and Product Differentiation

Tabular data are provided on the journals that have published economic education articles, the topics covered, and the individual authors. Institutions are ranked by their contributions to the economic education literature.     

AN EMPIRICAL NOTE ON CRITICAL COMMENTARY IN AUSTRALIAN ECONOMICS JOURNALS

A substantial empirical literature exists on ranking the published research output of individual academic economists and individual university Economics departments, including Australian work in Economics. However, very little corresponding effort has been directed at examining trends in the nature of published articles, and this embryonic literature is exclusively focused on a handful of top-ranked journals to the exclusion of Australian Economics journals. This note seeks to fill this gap by adopting the methodology developed by Coelho et al. (2005) in their analysis of the decline in critical commentary and applying it to Australian Economics journals for the period 1962 to 2005.