Nanotechnology: an opportunity or a threat?

No other branch of science has stirred up more excitement in the past century than nanotechnology. Nanotechnology was touted as THE revolutionary technology that could obliterate current business models and restructure vast parts of the economy. Nanotechnology was one of the largest recent US government funded science initiative since the Space Race (even larger than the Human Genome Project). With all these grandiose visions of massive disruption in virtually all sectors of the economy, nanotechnology is also a subject of discussion and debate in the executive board rooms of most large market leading corporations. Perhaps the number one question on the topic of nanotechnology is: “Exactly what IS nanotechnology?”

The c-level executive staff of a large multi-national healthcare company approached SI with the following interesting problem statement: define for us what nanotechnology is, and what opportunities and threats it poses for the myriad of our medical device, pharmaceutical and consumer products? SI methodically researched through the large volume of information published on nanotechnology, interviewed foremost experts on the topic of nanotechnology at leading government agencies, public and private corporations, and academia, to evaluate and analyze the current status of nanotechnology and its relevance to the various businesses of SI’s client. The final assessment represented a comprehensive technology and market focused overview of nanotechnology, with key specific recommendations on how best to address the challenges posed by the emergence of this new field, and how best to capitalize on the vast opportunities created due to advances in nanotechnology.