ObservatoryNANO is an EU funded project designed to present reliable, complete and responsible science-based and economic expert analysis, across technology sectors and to give decision-makers in government, industry, and finance objective information for their decisions. I took a look following a press release titled “Shaping European Nanotechnology” and naturally my eye was drawn towards the sector marked “economic data.”
Flicking through a few of the publications, I was surprised to find that the “complete and responsible science-based and economic expert analysis” consisted of statements like this
Scientists have invented a plastic solar cell that can turn the sun’s power into electrical energy, even on a cloudy day. The plastic material uses nanotechnology and contains the first solar cells able to harness the sun’s invisible, infrared rays. The breakthrough has led theorists to predict that plastic solar cells could one day become five times more efficient than current solar cell technology.
The primary driving force behind flexible displays is to solve the need of humans to interface with electronics that are undergoing continuous miniaturization.
The secondary push for flexible displays is the desire to place computers in objects that they previously did not belong. This could be shirts, golf clubs, or watches.
So, if you want economic expert analysis of nanotechnologies, at least you now know where not to look.