Connecting the Dots: Creating a Southern Nanotechnology Network

The advances being made in nanotechnology-based research are likely to impact most industry sectors eventually as more commercial applications are identified. As a result, the National Nanotechnology Initiative has been a research priority for the federal government for many years. Nanotech research is occurring around the world, but, at this point, the majority of effort is concentrated in several leading universities and private companies. A new report by the Southern Growth Policies Board (Southern) reveals the South, while performing about 20 percent of all nanotechnology research activity in the U.S., would benefit greatly through a formalized regional nanotechnology network.

Connecting the Dots: Creating a Southern Nanotechnology Network maps the South's assets in nanotechnology and provides recommendations for establishing the South as a leader in the emerging industry. Drawing from data for all of the Southern member states (Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico), the report outlines the region's strengths and weaknesses in nanotechnology in five key areas - human capital, knowledge generation, patents, funding and commercialization.

The report reveals Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia have the most highly concentrated activity, yet every Southern state is participating the nanotechnology industry. The Southern region also is home to four of the top 25 nanotechnology research institutions - Georgia Institute of Technology, the University of North Carolina, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and North Carolina State University - and nearly 20 percent of all highly cited nanotechnology researchers in the U.S.

Regional weaknesses were identified for nanotechnology patents and funding. The South lags the nation in nanotechnology patents with only 14.8 patents per million in population in comparison with 40.9 for the nation, and while it represents 20 percent of the nation's economic activity, it attracts only 9 percent of the total U.S. venture capital in all sectors. Lack of venture funding affects the technology commercialization process and the region's ability to attract and grow new nanotechnology companies, the report states.

While Southern research institutions boast strong linkages to international researchers, they lack connections to critical U.S. nanotechnology centers, such as those in California and the Northeast, the report concludes. Southern universities and research centers also lack strong connections among institutions in the region.

"Our research suggests that the South can significantly increase its competitive advantage in nanotechnology through regional collaboration among research institutions and with the private sector," Scott Doron, director of the Southern Technology Council, explained. "No Southern institution or locale has the critical mass of nanotechnology assets to go it alone and achieve global leadership."

Doron added, "We need a Southern Nanotechnology Network to connect the region's assets and increase research, funding and new business creation."

Connecting the Dots offers a framework for the creation of a Southern Nanotechnology Network that includes identifying state policy advocates to incorporate nanotechnology in primary economic development plans. The report recommendations also call for the creation of a Southern Nanotechnology Institute to create research coalitions and develop guidelines for nanotechnology education in pre K-20. Other recommendations focus on increasing funding opportunities for Southern institutions, the need for affordable research tools, and the need for further research to identify the South's market niches.

Other areas of the country also can realize the benefits of establishing a network to coordinate and strengthen a region's nanotechnology research and commercialization capacity, as outlined in Connecting the Dots. An executive summary is available at: http://www.southern.org/pubs/ConnectDots/ConnectExecSumm.pdf The full 80-page report is available for $20 through Southern Growth Policies Board: http://www.southern.org/pubs/puborderform.pdf

Links to this paper and more than 3,000 additional TBED-related research reports, strategic plans and other papers can be found at the Tech-based Economic Development (TBED) Resource Center, jointly developed by the Technology Administration and SSTI, at http://www.tbedresourcecenter.org/.