US slips in nanotech scenario

SAN JOSE: According to information from a research group, the United States of America, which was the leader in nanotech funding and new patents last year, is being overtaken by other countries in this arena.

Lux Research says that U.S. government funding, corporate spending, and VC investment in nanotech collectively reached $6.4 billion in 2009. This year, however, Japan, Germany and South Korea have surged ahead of the United States in terms of commercializing nanotechnology and products.

Other countries like China and Russia are close on the heels of the U.S. and may soon overtake them as well. The report points out that despite the US putting in more government funding, corporate spending, VC investment, and patent issuances, their ability to commercialize those technologies and leverage them to enable growth in the economy fell short of the actual potential that existed.

The report also said that in the field of long-term innovation, the US falls far behind other nations. One of the main reasons attributed to this is that number of science and engineering graduates in its population is much lower than it is in other countries.

The report says that global investment in nanotech has been steady through the recent financial crisis, with approximately $17.6 billion coming in from governments, corporations and investors in 2009. This is a 1 percent increase over 2008, according to the Boston based firm. The only group that drew back from investing in nanotech was venture capitalists, who cut investments by 43 percent relative as compared to 2008.