Triennial Review of the National Nanotechnology Initiative Reiterates Need for Information Exchange, Effective Technology Transfer, and Commercialization

The National Research Council recently released its Triennial Review of the National Nanotechnology Initiative, a required assessment of the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) by the 21st Century Nanotechnology Research and Development Act of 2003. This document makes recommendations to the Nanoscale Science, Engineering, and Technology (NSET) Subcommittee and to the National Nanotechnology Coordination Office (NNCO) “that will improve the NNI's value for basic and applied research and for development of applications in nanotechnology that will provide economic, societal, and national security benefits to the United States”. The assessment of federal research initiatives; NNI stakeholders; metrics, definitions of success, and data; NNI planning, management, and coordination frameworks; and technology transfer and commercialization are discussed.