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Digitalisation and the growth of big data promise greater customisation as well as change in how manufacturing is distributed. Yet, challenges arise in applying these new approaches in consumer goods industries that often emphasise mass production and extended supply chains. We build a conceptual framework to explore whether big data combined with new manufacturing technologies can facilitate redistributed manufacturing. Through analysis of 24 consumer goods industry cases using primary and secondary data, we investigate evolving manufacturing configurations, their underlying drivers, the role of big data applications, and their impact on the redistribution of manufacturing. We find some applications of redistributed manufacturing concepts, although in other cases existing manufacturing configurations are leveraged for high volume consumer goods products through big data analytics and market segmentation. The analysis indicates that the framework put forward in the paper has broader value in organising thinking about emerging interrelationships between big data and manufacturing., The work was supported by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) through The Network in Consumer Goods, Big Data and Re-Distributed Manufacturing (RECODE) hosted at Cranfield University under grant number EP/M017567/1.

This paper examines scientific research publication trends during the global coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in 2020. After reviewing the timing of the emergence of the pandemic in 2020 and the gro...

This research investigates how small and midsize enterprises (SMEs) manage in networks for commercializing emerging technologies. Contrasting network types and their influences on commercialization...

The UK Synthetic Biology Research Centre, SYNBIOCHEM, hosted by the Manchester Institute of Biotechnology at the University of Manchester is delivering innovative technology platforms to facilitate the predictable engineering of microbial bio-factories for fine and speciality chemicals production. We provide an overview of our foundry activities that are being applied to grand challenge projects to deliver innovation in bio-based chemicals production for industrial biotechnology.

This research probes the configuration of technological systems in terms of inter-sectoral knowledge and intermediate goods exchanges based on a case study of 21 industry sectors in the economy of Malaysia. The case study draws on a network analysis of sectoral knowledge flows survey data and input–output exchange statistics. The results show that knowledge acquisition and dissemination networks are relatively more intra-sector, denser, and centralized than goods exchange networks, which can affect how innovations spread through the economy. Knowledge networks, however, are more likely to form sub-networks with potentially diverse capabilities and influence on the technological system. This adds new information and value for knowledge-based sectoral investment strategies.

A profile of synthetic biology research and innovation is presented using data on publications and patents worldwide and for the UK and selected benchmark countries. The search approach used to identify synthetic biology publications identifies a core set of synthetic biology papers, extracts and refines keywords from these core records, searches for additional papers using those keywords, and supplements with articles published in dedicated synthetic biology journals and curated synthetic biology special collections. For the period from 2000 through to mid-July 2018, 11,369 synthetic biology publication records are identified worldwide. For patents, the search approach uses the same keywords as for publications then identifies further patents using a citation-tree search algorithm. The search covered patents by priority year from 2003 to early August 2018. Following geographical matching, 8,460 synthetic biology basic patent records were identified worldwide. Using this data, analyses of publications are presented which look at the growth of synthetic biology outputs, top countries and leading organizations, international co-authoring, leading subject categories, citations, synthetic biology on the map of science, and funding sponsorship. For patents, the analysis examines growth in patenting, national variations in publications compared with patenting, leading patent assignees, and the positioning of synthetic biology on a visualized map of patents.

In the emerging technology domain of nanotechnology, a significant portion of small and midsize enterprises have contributed to the scientific literature by publishing their research and development results. However, while considerable attention has been paid to patenting by small and midsize technology firms, the underlying business motivations for such firms to publish scientific papers are not well understood. This paper investigates the scientific publishing patterns of smaller firms engaged in nanotechnology and the factors that underlie this phenomenon. Based on an analysis of 85 US small and midsize enterprises with a minimum of four nanotechnology patents or publications, we test three hypotheses about corporate publishing: reputational gains, absorptive capacity, and strategic spillovers. We find that the small and midsize firms in our sample are more likely to publish when their work is associated with public science and when it involves a greater technological focus, but having a university collaborator is not a significant factor. The results from this study of nanotechnology enterprises suggest that small and midsize technology firms selectively manage and disclose their research based on internal developmental and capacity drivers.

With growing attention to societal issues and implications of synthetic biology, we investigate sources of social science publication knowledge in synthetic biology and probe what might be learned by comparison with earlier rounds of social science research in nanotechnology. “Social science” research is broadly defined to include publications in conventional social science as well as humanities, law, ethics, business, and policy fields. We examine the knowledge clusters underpinning social science publications in nanotechnology and synthetic biology using a methodology based on the analysis of cited references. Our analysis finds that social science research in synthetic biology already has traction and direction, rooted in an ethical, legal, and social implications framework. However, compared with nanotechnology, social science research in synthetic biology could further explore opportunities and openings for engagement, anticipatory, and downstream application perspectives that will help to build a wi...

Advances in biological engineering are likely to have substantial impacts on global society. To explore these potential impacts we ran a horizon scanning exercise to capture a range of perspectives on the opportunities and risks presented by biological engineering. We first identified 70 potential issues, and then used an iterative process to prioritise 20 issues that we considered to be emerging, to have potential global impact, and to be relatively unknown outside the field of biological engineering. The issues identified may be of interest to researchers, businesses and policy makers in sectors such as health, energy, agriculture and the environment.

With the building and construction sector contributing significantly to global greenhouse gas emissions, there is great demand for resource- and energy-efficient construction materials. Manufactured nanotechnology products (MNPs) are expected to realize resource and energy efficiency through performance improvements in the strength, lightness and insulating properties of construction materials. However, the actual adoption of MNPs has lagged. This article examines how the construction sector in the United States assesses MNPs for adoption. Through patent analysis and interviews, we gauge the supply of MNPs and identify actors' roles in technology adoption. Results indicate that awareness of MNPs is more extensive than anticipated. Yet, MNP adoption is limited by a multi-component technology assessment process focused primarily on the technology’s applicability to project-based outcomes. We conclude that barriers to MNP adoption can be overcome through intermediary activities such as product certification, comprehensive technology assessments, and “real-world” demonstrations.

The management of intellectual property (IP) – particularly in the form of patents – has become of increasing importance to technology-oriented small and mid-sized businesses. Such companies adopt diverse strategies to develop and exploit knowledge as they move along innovation pathways from research and development (R&D) to technology commercialization. This investigation examines IP submissions through recent patents in the field of nanotechnology to better understand those strategies and focuses on how indicators of R&D activity, collaborations, funding and firm characteristics can be used to garner strategic and competitive intelligence about the orientations and IP strategies of technology-based firms. Our analysis of data from the Georgia Tech's Global Nanotechnology Database and other sources and illustrative case studies of U.S. small and medium-sized enterprises in nanotechnology shows that there are at least two different strategic approaches to enter this field and distinctive roles along the innovation pathway. A longer-term strategy is associated with nanotechnology research and discovery and possibly use of nanotechnologies to enhance properties of products. Another strategy is associated with a newer generation of firms with a strong focus on novel nanotechnology product development and commercialization and more intensive patenting activity.

There is a growing interest in innovation for sustainability and the development of green industries and green jobs. But how can green industries, green manufacturing jobs, and green goods innovation be measured? This paper probes current and recent attempts to define and measure these categories, with a focus on studies in the UK. We review the methods, estimates and trends contained in these studies. While these efforts have value, they also raise significant conceptual and measurement issues. The paper discusses a series of these issues and considers strategies to further refine the categorization and detection of green sector enterprises. A new identification approach is put forward using search term combinations and text mining to discern green goods sector companies. This method is tested through a search of small and medium-size green goods enterprises in the UK. Findings from our search approach are presented, along with a discussion of advantages and limitations.

Purpose – This paper aims to explore pathways and issues of small business technological commercialization in China, probing the particular characteristics of the Chinese context and the ways in which innovation frameworks, institutions and business strategies are embedded. Design/methodology/approach – The authors examine in detail the case of an innovative Chinese indigenous small firm engaged in innovative nanotechnology materials development. The strategies and push- and pull factors underlying the company’s innovation practices were investigated. The proposition that the institutional relationships formed to secure access to research expertise and aid business survival also influence the ways in which technology is commercialized was explored. Findings – It was found that while technological development is company-driven, it is also highly connected to regional innovation structures and networks. This stimulates a “spin-in” rather than a university-led model of development, as this small firm embeds its technology and business development strategies in conjunction with partner organizations. Broader management and policy implications are discussed. Originality/value – While China has rapidly expanded scientific research in emerging technologies such as nanotechnology, commercialization through the development of entrepreneurial technology-oriented small companies faces a series of challenges. New enterprises in the emerging area of nanotechnology encounter problems of technology transfer and intellectual property management, capital acquisition, market uncertainty and constrained access to global markets.

Emerging science and technology fields are increasingly expected to provide solutions to societal grand challenges. The promise of such solutions underwrites much public research funding. Universit...

Visions about the use of nanotechnologies in the city, including in the design and construction of built environments, suggest that these technologies could be critically important for solving urban sustainability problems. We argue that such visions often overlook two critical and interrelated elements. First, conjectures about future nano-enhanced cities tend to rely on flawed concepts of urban sustainability that underestimate the challenges presented by deeply-rooted paradigms of market economics, risk assessment, and the absorption of disruptive technologies. Second, opportunities for stakeholders such as city officials, non-governmental organizations, and citizens to consider the nature and distribution of the potential benefits and adverse effects of nano-enabled urban technologies are rarely triggered sufficiently early. Limitations in early engagement will lead to problems and missed opportunities in the use of nanotechnologies for urban sustainability. In this article, we critically explore idea...

This study examines the effects of receipt of business assistance services from the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) on manufacturing establishment performance. The results generally indicate that MEP services have had positive and significant impacts on establishment productivity and sales per worker for the 2002 to 2007 period with some exceptions based on employment size, industry, and type of service provided. MEP services have also increased the probability of establishment survival for the 1997 to 2007 period. Regardless of econometric model specification, MEP clients with 1 to 19 employees have statistically significant and higher levels of labor productivity growth. The authors also observed significant productivity differences associated with MEP services by broad sector, with higher impacts over the 2002 to 2007 period in the durable goods manufacturing sector. The study further finds that establishments receiving MEP assistance are more likely to survive than those that do not receive MEP assistance. Published article available at https://doi.org/10.1177/0891242417744050

This paper examines how the concept of public values can be operationalized in an ongoing public initiative to stimulate innovation in an emerging technology. Our study focuses on Innovation Corps (I-Corps) –a program initiated in 2011 by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to accelerate the process of commercializing science-driven discoveries. The I-Corps method has since spread rapidly across multiple US agencies. Separately, there has also been heightened attention to the early anticipation and mitigation of the implications of emerging science and technology. Drawing on the case of nanotechnology, the paper considers how public values related to nanotechnology commercialization can be integrated alongside the fast start-up procedures embedded in I-Corps. We use a public values framework to pose societal-impact questions that can be probed in parallel with the current I-Corps process, highlighting values such as identification of societal problems that the technology might potentially address; types of potential customers likely to be overlooked; groups who might oppose the application as well as those who might support it; and potential environmental, health, and safety risks. The paper discusses the challenges of adding specifications related to equity as well as safety in efforts to foster rapid commercialization and considers how these can be integrated within the I-Corps approach.

This research paper proposes a novel method to identify ethnic or national heritage of authors based on the morphology of their surnames. Ethnic approximation of authors in publication and patenting databases has received some attention in recent years, especially with the purpose to investigate ethnic patenting and publishing, and explore effects of immigration on innovative development (Kerr and Lincoln, 2010).

This paper explores enterprise development and commercialization in the field of graphene. Firm characteristics and relationships, value chain positioning, and factors associated with product entry are examines for a set of 65 graphene-oriented small and medium-sized enterprises located in 16 different countries. As well as secondary sources and bibliometric methods to profile developments in graphene, we use computerized data mining and analytical techniques, including cluster and regression modeling, to identify patterns from publicly available online information on enterprise web sites. We identify groups of graphene small and medium-sized enterprises differentiated by how they are involved with graphene, the materials they target, whether they make equipment, and their orientation towards science and intellectual property. In general, access to finance and the firms’ location are significant factors that are associated with graphene product introductions. We also find that patents and scientific publications are not statistically significant predictors of product development in our sample of graphene enterprises. We further identify a cohort of graphene-oriented firms that are signaling plans to develop intermediate graphene products that should have higher value in the marketplace. Our findings suggest that policy needs to ensure attention to the introduction and scale-up of downstream intermediate and final graphene products and associated financial, intermediary, and market identification support. The paper demonstrates novel data methods that can be combined with existing information for real-time intelligence to understand and map enterprise development and commercialization in a rapidly emerging and growing new technology.

This concluding chapter synthesises the main findings and insights from the study of available evidence on the effectiveness of innovation policy intervention as presented in the Handbook. It begins by reminding the reader of the overall concept of innovation policy and impact followed throughout the Handbook. It then highlights key findings from the evidence on the effectiveness of the range of innovation policy instruments. It discusses overall lessons regarding the effectiveness and impacts of these innovation support measures. In addition, the concluding chapter offers observations and insights about the state of evidence on the effectiveness of policies in this domain, including considerations of evaluation methods, approaches and gaps. This provides a basis for deliberation on improved policy design and implementation, as well as concluding thoughts about evaluation and the production of evidence more broadly to support innovation policy making in the future.

This report identifies and reviews literature that evaluates the impacts of technology and innovation advisory services. These services provide information, technical assistance, consulting, mentoring, and other services to support enterprises in adopting and deploying new technologies and in commercialising innovations. Examples include the: Manufacturing Advisory Service (UK), the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (USA), and the Industrial Research Assistance Program (Canada). Technology and innovation advisory services are also provided by technology centres and other business assistance programmes. Such services are typically targeted at small and medium-sized enterprises. A defining capability of technology and innovation advisory services is the offer of expert one-on-one guidance to individual companies through extension staff, field offices, or dispersed technology centres. The available studies generally find that technology and innovation advisory services provide positive benefits for participating firms. The types of benefits achieved include reductions in costs, improved quality, reduced waste and improved environmental performance, higher productivity, and new product development and innovation. Net benefits achieved are typically relatively modest, although commensurate with the relatively small amounts of public funding usually invested in technology and innovation advisory services. More intense and customised services can improve results. Applying best practices in the operation and delivery of technology and innovation services, including attention to outreach, staff capability, long-term engagement, flexibility, organisational stability, and linkage with other services, increases the likelihood of programme effectiveness and impact.

Nanoscience and nanotechnology??involving the engineering of materials, devices, and systems at very small scales??have emerged as important priorities not only for science but also for economic development. In this article, we propose an analytical framework that considers the socioeconomic effects of nanotechnology in six key areas: institutional development, knowledge flows, and network efficiency; research and education capabilities; industrial and enterprise development; regional spread; cluster and network development; and product innovation. We apply this framework to assess the early impacts of the evolving domain of nanotechnology for development, with a focus on China and its transitioning economy, where nanotechnology is assuming an important role in breaking existing innovation system lock-ins and historical path dependencies. We suggest that the analytical framework adds value in assessing the developmental impacts of new technologies and could be used to probe such impacts in other countries and locations.

PurposeRecent studies report that China is becoming a leading nation in the quantity of scientific output, including in the emerging field of nanotechnology. In nanotechnology, bibliometric measures based on citations also indicate improvements in the research impacts of Chinese scientific papers. The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of international collaboration, including the role of knowledge moderation through Chinese researchers who collaborate in both domestic and international scientific cooperation, on the impacts of Chinese nanotechnology research publications.Design/methodology/approachUsing a nanotechnology publication dataset, bibliometric analysis and statistical testing are adopted to explore the issues raised in the study.FindingsInternational collaboration, through direct collaboration and indirectly through Chinese knowledge moderators, has a positive impact on the quality of Chinese research, controlling for language, discipline, research capacity, and other factors.Originality/valueThe concept of a Chinese knowledge moderator is introduced to identify Chinese researchers who bridge scientific worlds by publishing scientific papers with both domestic and international colleagues. This concept is operationalized to capture the indirect impacts in China of international knowledge linkages and spillovers including those associated with overseas Chinese researchers and with overseas returnees.

This study links survey data on scientists' societal perceptions of nanotechnology with publication data to understand the extent of association between societal perspectives held by nanoscientists and publication actions. Specifically, we explore the relationship between scientists' attitudes in two areas and their actions in citing nanotechnology environmental, health, and safety (EHS) publications. This relationship is examined by linking responses from participants in the University of Wisconsin's Nanotechnology and Society Survey of nanoscientists with publication data from the Georgia Tech global nanotechnology database. The likelihood of citing EHS publications is estimated as a function of the two societal perception variables as well as the scientific field and background characteristics such as PhD completion year, tenure-track position, gender, and religiosity. We find that perceptions about moral limits mediate citation actions whereas attitudes toward government regulation have no significant effect. Copyright , Beech Tree Publishing.

Governance of nanotechnology is essen- tial for realizing economic growth and other societal benefits of the new technology, protecting public health and environment, and supporting global col- laboration and progress. The article outlines gover- nance principles and methods specific for this emerging field. Advances in the last 10 years, the current status and a vision for the next decade are presented based on an international study with input from over 35 countries.

The Symposium Issue of the Journal of Technology Transfer on "Nanotechnology Innovation and Policy: Current Strategies and Future Trajectories" is edited by Philip Shapira and Jan Youtie. Articles in the special issue include: Nanotechnology Innovation and Policy: Current Strategies and Future Trajectories (P Shapira, J Youtie); National Innovation Systems and The Globalization of Nanotechnology Innovation (P Shapira, J Youtie, L Kay); University-Industry Linkages in Nanotechnology and Biotechnology: Evidence on Collaborative Patterns for New Methods of Inventing (J Thursby, M Thursby); Missing Links in Nanomaterials Governance: Industrial Dynamics and Downstream Policies (I Rafols, P Van Zwanenberg, M Morgan, P Nightingale, A Smith); Large Players in the Nanogame: Dedicated Nanotech Subsidiaries or Distributed Nanotech Capabilities? (V Mangematin, K Errabi, C Gauthier); Is Canadian Intellectual Property Leaving Canada? A Study of Nanotechnology Patenting (C Beaudry, A Schiffauerova); Silent Innovation ? Corporate Strategizing in Early Nanotech Evolution (M Andersen); and Nanotechnology and the U.S. National Innovation System: Continuity and Change (D Mowery).

While there has been much emphasis over the last decade on the science of nanotechnology and on the implications and risks of potential applications, it is now timely to increase attention to the emerging dynamics of nanotechnology commercialization. This paper examines, from a global perspective, where and how corporations are entering into nanotechnology innovation. The paper tests the proposition that a significant shift has occurred in recent years in the orientation of corporate nanotechnology activities—from research discovery to patented applications. It also examines the extent to which the character and structure of corporate nanotechnology activity by country initially reflects national innovation system characteristics and prior public research funding inputs in the stage when discovery is most emphasized. The results indicate that national innovation systems characteristics are significant factors in the commercialization shift of nanotechnology and highlight the importance of innovation system policy factors. We also observe the influence of cross-border international invention linkages, suggesting that national innovation policies also need to be open and international in orientation.

The role of universities in supporting economic development has been explored in studies emphasizing the mechanisms of technology transfer and knowledge spillover. However, in addition to these forms of intellectual capital, university scientists bring other resources into research collaboration and contribute to firm partnerships in both direct and indirect ways. This paper develops the concept of resource spillover, which captures the various ways in which firms can benefit from collaborations with university scientists. The study categorizes the resources possessed by university scientists into intellectual capital, social capital, and positional capital, and tests the impact of each on the performance of firms. Using a sample of new nanotechnology-based firms in the USA, the study finds that the benefits to firms from university scientist research collaboration include enhancements to perceived research capacity and technology potential, which in turn may increase chances of securing external funding.

Nanotechnology is expected by many to be one of the next drivers of technology-based business and economic growth. China has emerged as a global player in nanotechnology development, and now ranks second (after the United States) in nanotechnology scientific publications produced annually. The study of nanotechnology offers a lens to examine China's capabilities to move closer to the frontier of technology-led economic development, explore the evolving Chinese innovation system, and assess the effectiveness of policy strategies to modernize and add-value to research and industry in China. Supported by new policy initiatives and funding, hundreds of institutions and thousands of researchers in China are engaged in nanotechnology R&D. Yet, although Chinese nanotechnology research has scale, the pathways from laboratory research to successful commercialization remain problematic. Chinese performance in nanotechnology patenting and product development is weak relative to its research strength, suggesting a significant gap between the research base and industrial development. Drawing on bibliometric research and field interviews with Chinese nanotechnology policymakers, researchers and business representatives, we analyze this gap, explore the factors contributing to it and assess future commercialization trajectories.

This paper explores institutional and organizational influences on creativity in scientific research. Using a method for identifying creative scientific research accomplishments in two fields of science (nanotechnology and human genetics) in Europe and the US, the paper summarizes results derived from twenty case studies of highly creative research accomplishments, focusing on contextual patterns at the group, organizational, and institutional levels. We find that creative accomplishments are associated with small group size, organizational contexts with sufficient access to a complementary variety of technical skills, stable research sponsorship, timely access to extramural skills and resources, and facilitating leadership. A potential institutional threat to creative science is the increase in competitive research council funding at the expense of flexible institutional sponsorship. Implications for research management and research policy are considered.

There has been increased attention to the importance of knowledge in economic success. The ability of a region to develop learning capabilities has been linked to knowledge-based success. However, conflicting perspectives exist about whether and how it is possible for policies and institutions in a lagging location to foster a learning region. This article examines this debate in the context of an effort to develop a second region of innovation (outside of Atlanta) in the US state of Georgia through a learning network called the Midsize Cities Technology Development Initiative. This initiative partnered four midsized cities in Georgia with four European midsized cities to stimulate benchmarking and learning. While traditional perspectives on economic development persist, some learning and reorientation of strategy was evident in the participating US cities. In stimulating these changes, significant roles were played by outsiders in brokering interaction and imparting fresh ideas, in strengthening ties to ...

Universities have assumed an expanded role in science and technology-based economic development that has become of interest to catch-up regions as well as to leading innovation locales. This paper examines how the role of the university has evolved from performing conventional research and education functions to serving as an innovation-promoting knowledge hub though the case of Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech). This case is discussed in the context of state efforts to shift the region from an agricultural to an industrial to an innovation-driven economy. Central to the transformation of Georgia Tech as a knowledge hub is the emergence of new institutional leadership, programs, organizational forms and boundary-spanning roles that meditate among academic, educational, entrepreneurial, venture capital, industrial, and public spheres. Comparisons between Georgia Tech's experiences and those of university roles in selected other catch-up regions in the southern United States highlight the importance to the case of networked approaches, capacity building, technology-based entrepreneurial development, and local innovation system leadership. Insights on the transformation of universities and the challenges of fostering a similar transformation in regional economies are offered.

Multiple economic development theories suggest that research and innovation in emerging technologies will cluster in certain locations rather then distributing equally among all regions. If this is the case, this distributional pattern has implications for where future economic opportunities as well as future risks will be concentrated. In this paper, we probe nanotechnology (hereafter nano) research and commercialization at a regional level. The study examines the top 30 US ?nanodistricts? or metropolitan areas which lead in nanotechnology research activity over the 1990-2006 timeframe. We explore the factors underlying the emergence of these 30 metropolitan areas through exploratory cluster analysis. We find that while most of the leading nanodistricts are similar to top cities in previous rounds of emerging technologies, new geographic concentrations of nanotechnology research have surfaced. Several of the embryonic concentrations in nontraditional places for technology development have large concentrations of research at a single government laboratory or university research institution. This finding suggests that concentrated investments in nanotechnology R&D into a single institution can elevate the profile of a region that has lacked previous technological prominence. However, to increase the chances that nanotechnology R&D in these new locations will be commercialized in the region, policy initiatives should seek to encourage greater interaction with other institutions and companies to exploit nanotechnology-related knowledge.

Our contribution to the expanding literature on the globalization of research and innovation is to investigate the extent to which sector-specific developments in an emerging technology (such as increasing interdisciplinarity and complexity) affect inventive activities developed abroad. We look at how technological diversity and scientific excellence of host countries in the field of nanotechnology affect the development of inventive activities by US multinational companies (MNCs). We identify the most active US-based MNCs in nanotechnology-related patenting and examine location decisions of these companies and their international subsidiaries. Econometric results confirm our hypothesis that the technological breadth of host countries positively influences the expected number of inventions developed abroad by US MNCs. Science capabilities of countries also have a positive impact on the decision to invent abroad, while the influence of market specific factors is less clear. We interpret these results as suggesting that host country science capabilities are important to attract innovative activities by MNCs, but as the interdisciplinary and convergent nature of nanotechnology evolves, access to a broadly diversified knowledge base becomes important in increasing the relative attractiveness of host locations.

This article examines the relative positions with respect to nanotechnology research publications of the European Union (EU), the United States (US), Japan, Germany, China, and three Asian Tiger nations (South Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan). The analysis uses a dataset of nanotechnology publication records for the time period 1990 through 2006 (part year) extracted from the Science Citation Index obtained through the Web of Science and was developed through a two-stage modularized Boolean approach. The results show that although the EU and the US have the highest number of nanotechnology publications, China and other Asian countries are increasing their publications rapidly, taking an ever-larger proportion of the total. When viewed in terms of the quality-based measure of citations, Asian nanotechnology researchers also show growth in recent years. However, by such citation measures, the US still maintains a strongly dominant position, followed by the EU.

This paper examines the evolving situation of mature manufacturing small and midsize enterprises (SMEs) in Japan and the United States and considers some of the key challenges they now face in an era of globalization and rapid technological change. The rationale and justification for policy intervention to support mature SMEs is considered. A review is offered of illustrative policy initiatives in three areas: framework policies, industrial services, and regional industrial cluster policies. The convergence of manufacturing and regional policies is noted. The relative strengths and weaknesses of Japanese and US strategies are assessed. The paper concludes with a comparison of Japanese and US approaches to retaining manufacturing SMEs, interpreted through the various and at times interactive ways through which each country’s innovation system develops and evolves technology and business support policies.

Nanotechnology has attracted significant research, funding, and policy activity in recent years in the US and many other countries. Of particular interest are the locational characteristics of this emerging technology. This study examines the emergence of nanotechnology in the US South to explore questions of regional standing and spatial trajectory, using an exploratory multi-indicator approach. Our research employs an array of 10 indicators of knowledge generation, human capital, RD but other districts (e.g., Oak Ridge Tennessee and Atlanta, Georgia) that have strengths in certain aspects of the nanotechnology research ecosystem have weaknesses in commercialization. The study illustrates how multi-indicator approaches can be developed from existing databases, using customized search techniques, and how the insights from multi-indicator measurement can be used to provide insights for research and innovation policy.

Delineating the emergence of nanotechnologies that offer new functionalities is an important element in an anticipatory approach to the governance of nanotechnology and its potential impacts. This paper examines the transition to next generation active nanotechnologies which incorporate functions that respond to the environment or systems concepts that combine devices and structures that are dynamic and which may change their states in use. We develop an approach to identifying these active nanotechnologies and then use bibliometric analysis to examine the extent of research papers and patents involving these concepts. We also examine references to environmental, health, and safety concepts in these papers, given that these next generation nanotechnologies are likely to have risk profiles that are different from those of first-generation passive nanomaterials. Our results show a steady growth overall in focus on active nanotechnologies in the research literature and in patents over the study period of 1990–2010. We also find an increase in consideration given to environmental, health, and safety topics. While gaps are highlighted in our understanding of research and innovation in active nanotechnologies, the results suggest that there is beginning to be a shift to active nanotechnologies, with the implication that governance processes need to be conscious of this shift and to prepare for it.

本文利用新型数据资源和数据开发方法，采用大数据挖掘技术，整合各渠道已有的行业信息，生成实时行业情报，分析和规划快速发展的新兴技术领域产业蓝图和商业化进程。作为一个示范案例，本文选取了来自16个不同国家的65个中小型石墨烯企业作为研究对象，并且调查研究了这些企业的发展状态和技术商业化战略。我们首先充分利用现有的资料和文献统计方法分析石墨烯产业发展状况。之后使用集群和回归分析等大数据挖掘方法和计算数据分析技术，对公开可获取的企业网站在线信息进行数据采集和分析，并确定企业数据分析模型。研究发现，中小型石墨烯企业的差异化特征有以下几个方面：企业如何进入石墨烯领域、企业研发的目标材料有哪些、企业是否研制生产设备以及科研和专利的研发方向等。总的来说，融资渠道和企业的地理位置是石墨烯产品能否成功在市场上推广的两个显著因素。研究发现，在所选的中小企业样本中，专利和科学出版物的发表状况并不能明显地预测石墨烯产品的发展方向。研究结果表明，英国的众多石墨烯中小企业正计划以石墨烯中间体材料为未来发展重点，预计在该领域将会产生很大的市场价值。综合分析研究结果，我们建议英国的石墨烯产业政策需要加大关注产业链下游的中间体材料以及最终产品的市场化推广和规模化生产，并且延伸到行业相关的金融服务、中介服务、市场认定支持等方面。

Summary A goal of synthetic biology bio‐foundries is to innovate through an iterative design/build/test/learn pipeline. In assessing the value of new chemical production routes, the intellectual property (IP) novelty of the pathway is important. Exploratory studies can be carried using knowledge of the patent/IP landscape for synthetic biology and metabolic engineering. In this paper, we perform an assessment of pathways as potential targets for chemical production across the full catalogue of reachable chemicals in the extended metabolic space of chassis organisms, as computed by the retrosynthesis‐based algorithm RetroPath. Our database for reactions processed by sequences in heterologous pathways was screened against the PatSeq database, a comprehensive collection of more than 150M sequences present in patent grants and applications. We also examine related patent families using Derwent Innovations. This large‐scale computational study provides useful insights into the IP landscape of synthetic biology for fine and specialty chemicals production.

The ability to delineate the boundaries of an emerging technology is central to obtaining an understanding of the technology’s research paths and commercialization prospects. Nowhere is this more relevant than in the case of nanotechnology (hereafter identified as “nano”) given its current rapid growth and multidisciplinary nature. (Under the rubric of nanotechnology, we also include nanoscience and nanoengineering.) Past efforts have utilized several strategies, including simple term search for the prefix nano, complex lexical and citation-based approaches, and bootstrapping techniques. This research introduces a modularized Boolean approach to defining nanotechnology which has been applied to several research and patenting databases. We explain our approach to downloading and cleaning data, and report initial results. Comparisons of this approach with other nanotechnology search formulations are presented. Implications for search strategy development and profiling of the nanotechnology field are discussed.

While much of the economic development literature urges greater emphasis on demand-based strategies, policies designed to create economic development advantage by leveraging telecommunications investment continue to be supply side oriented. The rationale underlying telecommunications investment efforts is that if the technology is low cost, both financially and from a cognitive usability standpoint, then it will be used. This paper examines the use of supply side strategies by one small community, LaGrange Georgia. LaGrange sought to enhance its competitiveness in the knowledge economy through the deployment of an Internet television like service designed to be free and easy to use called LITV. Based on a survey of 494 households and selected case studies, the study found that a major group of households that took up the service already had an Internet computer at home. They adopted LITV primarily because it was free rather than because it was an upward path toward economic transformation, as was the case for a segment of African-American female-headed households that adopted LITV. In spite of the fact that LITV was free and nominally easy to use, many citizens did not adopt LITV. Nonadopters and those who initially adopted but then dropped the service spanned the socioeconomic spectrum-rich and poor, well educated and dropouts, with Internet computers at home and beyond. This finding suggests that reducing the cost of technology alone is not enough to raise demand. More attention must be paid to tailoring policies to stimulate demand through targeted applications and broader supporting policies.

This paper presents the results of research to develop new data sources and methods that can be combined with existing information for real-time intelligence to understand and map enterprise development and commercialisation in a rapidly emerging and growing new technology. As a demonstration case, the study examines enterprise development and commercialisation strategies in graphene, focusing on a set of 65 graphene-based small and medium-sized enterprises located in 16 different countries. We draw on available secondary sources and bibliometric methods to profile developments in graphene. We then use computerised data mining methods and analytical techniques, including cluster and regression modelling, to identify patterns from publicly available online information on enterprise web sites. We identify groups of graphene small and medium-sized enterprises differentiated by how they became involved with graphene, the materials they target, whether they make equipment, and their orientation towards science and intellectual property. In general, access to finance and the firms’ location are significant factors that are associated with graphene product introductions. We also find that patents and scientific publications are not statistically significant predictors of product development in our sample of graphene SMEs. We show that the UK has a cohort of graphene-oriented SMEs that is signalling plans to develop intermediate graphene products that should have higher value in the marketplace. Our findings suggest that UK policy needs to ensure attention to the introduction and scale-up of downstream intermediate and final graphene products and associated financial, intermediary, and market identification support.

This technical note analyzes international experiences and practices of public technology extension service programs. Technology extension services comprise varied forms of assistance provided directly to enterprises to foster technologi cal modernization and improvement, with a focus on established small and mid-sized enterprises. The note discusses the definitions, rationales, and characteristics of selected technology extension service programs, drawing on examples from Europe, North America, and other regions. It presents four detailed case studies : the U.S. Manufacturing Extension Partnership; the National Research Council - Industrial Research Assistance Program in Canada; England’s Manufacturing Advisory Service; and Tecnalia, an applied technology organization in Spain. The case studies address several program elements including the history and evolution of the program, structure, program scale, financing structure, services and clients, governance, personnel, monitoring, and evaluation. The analysis highlights common and distinctive characteristics as well as program strengths, weaknesses, and key practices. The note provides a framework for positioning technology extension services within the broader mix of policies for technology transfer, business upgrading, and innovation , and offers conclusions and insights to support efforts to strengthen technology extension services in Latin America.