Nanotech Northern Europe hosts world's first truly global panel on public-sector nanotechnology funding

Posted: August 4, 2008
Nanotech Northern Europe hosts world's first truly global panel on public-sector nanotechnology funding
(Nanowerk News) Key figures from around the world will gather to discuss the prospects and priorities for public funding of nanotechnology at Nanotech Northern Europe 2008. The global nanotechnology debate will be co-moderated by BusinessWeek technology correspondent Jennifer L. Schenker and Pekka Koponen, CEO of Spinverse.
Richard M. Russell, Deputy Director at Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), Executive Office of the President, USA Christos Tokamanis, Head of the unit ‘Nano and Converging Sciences and Technologies’, European Commission Kazunobu Tanaka, Fellow at Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST). Bai Chunli, Executive VP of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Mikhail Kovalchuk, head of the Russian Research Center "Kurchatov Institute”
The debate takes place on September 23rd 2008, and will take place immediately after Nanotech Northern Europe is officially opened by Helge Sander, Denmark’s Minister of Science.
Large-scale public sector investment has stimulated the development of nanotechnology over recent years. Governments invested over $6bn in nanotechnology in 2007, and public-sector investment has only recently been overtaken by private-sector funding.
This marks the first time that such a discussion has been organised, featuring nanotechnology’s current leaders, the USA, EU and Japan, and, in Russia and China, its potential future giants. This debate will address some of the key questions about future public-sector investment in nanotechnology:
How will public funding of nanotechnology develop over the coming years? What is in place already and where is investment still needed? What are the major challenges to the development of nanotechnology, and can global cooperation help to alleviate them? What can countries that are increasing their investment learn from the experiences of established nanotechnology leaders?
About Nanotech Northern Europe 2008
Nanotech Northern Europe is Europe’s largest annual nanotechnology conference and exhibition, which is expected to attract over 800 conference participants and 6000+ exhibition visitors.
The event highlights cutting-edge research in nanotechnology, in sectors as diverse as energy, health, electronics, food and construction. High-profile speakers include: Michael Graetzel, developer of a novel, low cost method for producing solar cells; Mauro Ferrari, who is pioneering new ways of highly targeted drug delivery with applications in cancer treatment; Andre Geim, who has discovered a novel material with the potential to revolutionise electronics; Stuart Parkin, who leads development of a new type of computer memory at IBM, and Nobel Laureate Zhores Alferov.
Nanotech Northern Europe will also feature leading companies who will be discussing their nanotechnology activities and outlook, including Nokia, GE, Hewlett-Packard, Vestas, Samsung, Fujitsu, Roche, Danisco, Bayer, and Unilever.
Nanotech Northern Europe is arranged by an international coalition of partners from government, academia and industry. The lead organiser of the event is Spinverse. Spinverse commercializes emerging technologies by combining scientific, industrial and investment expertise with a broad contact and knowledge base.
For more information about Nanotech Northern Europe, visit www.nanotech.net
For more information about Spinverse, visit www.spinverse.com
For more information, please contact:
Pekka Koponen CEO, Spinverse Pekka.koponen @ spinverse.com +358 40 545 0008
Tom Crawley Event Coordinator, Spinverse Tom.crawley @ spinverse.com +358 50 463 7149

Source: Spinverse