Address by Minister Michael Ahern to World Nano-Economic Congress

Address by Mr Michael Ahern TD, Minister for Trade and Commerce, at the Opening of the World Nano-Economic Congress in the Radisson Hotel, Stillorgan on 20 ^th April 2005 at 9am

I am very pleased to welcome you all today. Over the next two days, researchers, industrialists and investors from around the world will have the opportunity to share their knowledge and experiences in the commercialisation of nanotechnology.

The importance of an event like the WNEC is the cross-pollination of ideas, to ensure that research is directed at meeting demands from the market place. This will be a key driver in achieving sustainable economic growth. It is particularly true in respect of Nanotechnology, an enabling technology, which has great potential to contribute to industrial and social development.

Since the late 1990s, nanotechnology has gained increasing worldwide recognition - and funding - as a research topic in its own right. But it is a highly interdisciplinary activity, drawing on the basic science, analytical techniques and experimental approaches of physics, chemistry, electronics, materials science and molecular biology.

Platform technologies such as nanotechnology will impact on many industrial sectors, including those that are central to sustaining Ireland's economic prosperity. They will play a key role in the development of a dynamic knowledge-based economy and society. This is reflected in the breadth of topics on your agenda, with discussion including developments in electronics, in the medical devices & pharma sectors, in the food industry and in the plastics sector. In the circumstances, I am particularly happy to see important Irish industrial sectors well represented here.

The present global market for nanotools, driven by the needs of the electronics sector, and nanomaterials, produced mostly in the fine chemical and materials sector, has been estimated to be in the range of 2.5 billion Euro, with a potential to reach one trillion Euro shortly after 2010. While projections vary somewhat, there is no doubt that this represents huge potential, which no economy can afford to overlook.

Research and Development in the nanotechnology field is already heavily funded in all advanced economies, including national programmes in Ireland and at European Union level where Nanotechnologies and Nanosciences are an important thematic component of its Framework Programme of Research. In Ireland, through the various state agencies - Enterprise Ireland, Science Foundation Ireland, IDA Ireland and the Higher Education Authority - we are funding research across the complete value chain, from basic research and infrastructures in centres such as the Centre for Research on Adaptive Nanostructures and Nanodevices in Trinity College and the Tyndall Institute in University College Cork, to commercial research in established and new start up companies.

While considerable information is already available on potential technological opportunities and development paths, information is as yet rudimentary on many aspects and concrete applications, as well as on the societal and environmental issues that will arise when technological systems, concrete applications and user contexts start to emerge. Knowledge economies across the globe are attempting to understand how best to react to the emergence of nanotechnology as a key enabling technology. Ireland, as a small open knowledge-based economy, also needs to understand how best to respond. Recognizing this need, the Irish Council for Science, Technology and Innovation (ICSTI) established a Nanotechnology Task Force, which brought together the stakeholders and developed a common vision and strategy for nanotechnology in Ireland. The resulting vision and strategy, finalised in early 2004, was based on an analysis of major global trends and the needs of Ireland as a small open knowledge-economy.

It is extremely important that Ireland positions itself in such a way as to ensure that we compete for a share of the emerging market. We have to realise that we cannot cover all the nanotechnology sub-sectors. It is critical that we take funding decisions based on a rigorous assessment, which will maximise in a cohesive and coordinated way the potential rewards to the national economy. In this light we have now launched a Technology Assessment process, through my Department and Forfás, to continue our analysis.

This Technology Assessment approach will ensure a systematic and systemic method of intelligence gathering that can, in tandem with other methods such as market research and evaluations, ensure a clear evidence-based policy formulation process. Technology assessment is particularly appropriate as it lends itself to technologies which have wide applicability, long-term investment implications and significant social implications. It will, I believe, allow Ireland to build on its two priority areas of ICT and Biotechnology, taking advantage of the rapid evolution and convergence of nanotechnology with both of these. I am sure that many of you in the audience will be asked to participate in this assessment and I look forward very much to your input to the process.

At European Union level, the Council of Ministers adopted Conclusions on Nanotechnologies in September 2004, on foot of the Commission’s Communication of May 2004. The Council highlighted the importance of reinforcing the industrial exploitation of nanotechnologies and called for an Action Plan to be drawn up following a wide ranging debate during the first quarter of 2005. It is likely that the Action Plan will become available in May.

While policy development is still continuing, industrial development has been forging ahead. In Ireland, our first indigenous nanotechnology companies spun out of university research groups in the mid-1990s. For example, NTERA Ltd., founded in 1997, a spin-out from University College Dublin, has developed a next generation display called NanoChromics. Deerac Fluidics, a spin-out from Trinity College, has developed nanolitre-scale liquid handling technology that is being deployed in high-throughput screening systems in drug discovery research. Glantreo, a spin-out from University College Cork, develops novel nanomaterials.

So our investments in university-based research is already bearing fruit in the form of new start-up companies producing high value-added products, built around in-depth knowledge of nanotechnology. Nanotechnology affords great opportunities to Irish SMEs, particularly in increasing competitiveness by improving performance or reducing the costs of existing products and processes. This afternoon four speakers will address issues facing SMEs when integrating nanotechnology into their companies.

Multinational firms, including those with operations in Ireland, are investing in nanotechnology. Indeed, nearly every manufacturing company in the Fortune 500 is already active in the nanotech field, and globally corporations spent more than $1 billion on nanotech in 2004.

Multinational corporations will play a lead role in the commercialisation and mass adoption of the technology. Through the work of our state agencies, many of which already have large-scale facilities in Ireland, are now extending their operations to include significant R&D facilities. Such R&D facilities, while clearly vital to the future growth of individual companies, will also play an important part as portals of expertise for indigenous industries.

At the recent opening of Bell Labs Ireland it was noted that already a number of Irish companies are accessing Bell Labs expertise in the area of nanotechnology. The results of such investment will inevitably be reflected in the manufacturing and product and process development activities of companies in Ireland in the future. I know that IDA Ireland is closely monitoring developments in nanotechnology to assess potential and to respond positively to business opportunities.

While governments and policy makers can create the environment for the successful commercialisation of nanotechnology, it is only companies that can realise the market opportunities and build competitive advantage. The speakers you will hear represent large and small, established and new companies, but their unifying feature is they are all leaders in their respective fields.

Nanotechnology affords us a great opportunity to achieve competitive advantage at company and national level. This event provides a powerful means of sharing and learning together and I encourage you all to exploit this event to its full potential.

I wish you all every success not only with this congress but also with your efforts into the future.

ENDS/TC147a