Researchers under the direction of JUDIT CASTELLA of the Barcelona based Fundació Catalana per a la Recerca i la Innovació (FCRI) review nanotechnology , its economic and social implications, and its role in public policy and state that private investment in nanotech had exceeded public funding with a total overall annual R&D spend of over $4 billion led by US, Japan and the EU.
In a report for the FCRI, "Nanotechnology: What is it and how will it affect us?", they state that nanotechnology could cause significant disruption in multiple industries and require massive investments in infrastructure with development forecast over three phases:
1. the current early-stage spanning 5 years focused on investigation phase,
2: a commercial development phase spanning 5-10 years wherein applications would begin to be produced on an industrial scale and
3: a mature phase spanning 10-15 years featuring a consolidation of the industry with a market for nanotechnology-enabled applications exceeding $ 1 trillion.
They state that nanotechnology could be compared to electricity which caused disruption in most industries on introduction contrasting that with genetics which impacted only medicine and agriculture and was impeded by social concerns. They conclude that the challenge for governments was to secure a niche for new economic growth by empowering local industries to assimilate new technologies, building a large, multi-disciplinary educated workforce, and addressing public concern over health and environmental issues.
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