“NANO MALAYSIA 2013 - CONVENTION AND EXPO”

And

“NATIONAL WORKSHOP ON STRENGTHENING R&D MANAGEMENT

CAPACITY OF RESEARCHERS AND RESEARCH MANAGERS IN THE

AREA OF NANOTECHNOLOGY”

10-13 December 2013, Malacca, Malaysia

An Overview of APCTT’s Programme on R&D Management Capacity

Building in the Area of Nanotechnology-Based Value Added Products

Satyabrata Sahu, Ph.D.

Asian and Pacific Centre for Transfer of Technology (APCTT) of the

United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN-ESCAP)

Outline

1. Background

2. Why Nanotechnology ?

3. Regional consultations

4. APCTT’s approach and focus

5. Current activities

Background

UNESCAP Resolution 60/1. Shanghai Declaration V.

Overarching issues 18. –

… To encourage the establishment of a regional network of research institutions and universities in the ESCAP region by 2006 in order to

promote education, technical skills development and technology transfer through the exchange of programmes, students and academics.

Recommendation of the Second Session of the Governing

Council and the Second Meeting of the Technical

Committee of APCTT, December 2006, Lahore, Pakistan.

Why Nanotechnology ?

• New and emerging sector

• Wide gap between Asia-Pacific region and developed countries of Europe and America

• Wide gaps between countries within the Asia-Pacific region

• Applications in a wide range of industrial sectors

• Critical and huge opportunities for the SME sector

• Sustainable and inclusive development (Rio+20 Agenda) – Nano-encapsulation of fertilizers and pesticides, Water purification, Solar cell manufacturing, etc

Nanotechnology-based value added products Areas of application

• Agriculture

• Automotive industry

• Food and beverage

• Textiles

• Personal care and hygiene

• Medicine, therapeutics

• Structural materials, coatings and industrial applications

• Electronics and computing

• Environmental applications

Regional Consultative Meeting for Senior Policymakers in Asia and the Pacific

“Promoting innovation in nanotechnology and fostering its industrial application: an Asia-Pacific perspective, 2-3 Dec 2009, Colombo, Sri

Lanka”

Recommendations -

1. To promote the application of nanotechnology to enhance competitiveness of industry, especially the SMEs

2. To establish a regional network of R&D institutions engaged in nanotechnology research

3. To promote cross-border technological cooperation between researchers

4. To strengthen R&D management and research commercialization capacity of researchers, research managers and R&D institutions

Expert Group Meeting 7-8 Dec 2011, Bangkok, Thailand

Theme – “Networking of R&D Institutions in the Asia-Pacific to Strengthen Capacity of R&D Management and Innovation in the Field of Nanotechnology”

Participating countries – China, India, Indonesia, Islamic Republic of Iran, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Thailand

Participants – 13 Senior researchers from prominent R&D institutions

Recommendations:

• A dedicated nanotech website as a regional information network

• A database of tested and proven nanotechnology applications for commercialisation

• Database of researchers and R&D institutions

• A repository of meetings/workshops reports

• Capacity building programs for researchers focusing on critical aspects of nanotechnology R&D management

Nanotechnology R&D Top-Down and Bottom-up Approaches

Govt. support (Funding, Capacity building)

R&D Institutes

(Research commercialization)

Industry (e.g. SMEs) (Value-added products)

Consumers

(Needs)

Capacity building R&D collaboration

Focus of APCTT’s nanotechnology programme

Nanotechnology-based value added products

R&D institutes - Capacity building of researchers and research managers on critical aspects of R&D management

Research collaboration between R&D institutes and industry

Networking among R&D institutions

Commercialization of research results

Information exchange / sharing

Sharing of experience / best practices

Lessons learned from case studies

Current Activities under nanotechnology programme

• Developing a website to function as a regional information network

• Developing a database of nanotechnologies that R&D institutes and industries are willing to offer for commercialization.

• Creating a database of R&D institutions in the region who are engaged in the development of nanotechnology-based value added products.

• Creating a database of nanotechnology researchers from the Asia-Pacific region

• Developing a Manual on nanotechnology R&D management

• Organizing national capacity building workshops for researchers and research managers focusing on:

Nanosafety, standardization and certification of nanoproducts

Developing R&D collaboration with industry

Adopting good intellectual property (IP) practices and leveraging the IP generated for commercial benefit

Commercialization of research results

• Under the nanotechnology capacity building programme of APCTT, as of now about 113 target participants representing a wide range of national organizations, institutions and SMEs of Member Countries have been benefited.

Asia-Pacific Nanotechnology R&D Management Network http://nanotech.apctt.org

Asia-Pacific Nanotechnology R&D Management Network http://nanotech.apctt.org

• The website houses meeting reports, presentations made by experts, study reports, guidebook / training manual, and upcoming and past activities under the nanotechnology capacity building programme of APCTT.

• The website also includes databases on nanotechnology opportunities (offers and requests), R&D collaboration/partnership offers, nanotechnology researchers, and R&D institutes from participating member countries who are engaged in nanotechnology R&D activities.

“Manual on Critical Issues in Nanotechnology R&D

Management: An Asia-Pacific Perspective”

The Manual addresses the following issues that were

identified at the Expert group Meeting (EGM) held in

December 2011.

• Nano-safety, Standardization, and Certification

• Protection and Valuation of Intellectual Property

• The Commercialization of R&D Results

The Manual also includes a chapter on ‘Case Studies on the Development and Commercialization of Nanotechnology-based Value Added Products from the Asia-Pacific region’

“Manual on Critical Issues in Nanotechnology R&D

Management: An Asia-Pacific Perspective”

• The Manual includes 26 case studies on various aspects of nanotechnology development and commercialization from 11 Asia-Pacific countries such as China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, Islamic Republic of Iran, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

• The Manual also includes 6 case studies from developed countries outside the region such as Denmark, Spain, the Netherlands, and the USA.

Study Reports

• Innovative development of bottom-up nanotechnology-based value-added products for enhancing competitiveness in the Asia-Pacific

• R&D cooperation and technology transfer in nanotechnology-based value added products: challenges, opportunities and policy recommendations for Asia-Pacific countries

National Workshops for Capacity Building Objectives

• Strengthen understanding on critical aspects of nanotechnology R&D management such as: (a) nanosafety, standardization, and certification; (b) protection and valuation of nanotechnology-related intellectual property (IP); and (c) commercialization of nanotechnology R&D results.

• Enhance knowledge of key stakeholders on promoting R&D collaboration in the development of nanotechnology-based value added products for enhancing competitiveness of enterprises.

• Share experiences and good practices on how R&D institutes in the Asia-Pacific region: (a) work with industry to develop nanotechnology-based value added products; (b) protect and share the nanotechnology IP developed; and (c) ensure compliance with respect to nanosafety, standardization and certification.

National Workshop on Strengthening R&D Management Capacity of Researchers and

Research Managers of R&D Institutes in the Area of Nanotechnology Jakarta, Indonesia, 26-27 June 2013

• Attended by 78 participants representing various ministries, departments,

research and development institutes, universities, national technology and innovation promotion agencies and SMEs in Indonesia.

• Experts from India, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Republic of Korea shared their knowledge and experiences with the participants at the workshop.

• The participants were trained by international experts on critical aspects of nanotechnology R&D management such as: health and safety implications and risk governance of nanotechnology; protection and valuation of intellectual property rights in nanotechnology; testing, standardization and certification of nanoproducts; and the commercialization of research results by research and development institutes in the field of nanotechnology.

The Way Forward

• Organizing national-level capacity building workshops in more

countries in the region

• Building a database of nanotechnology opportunities

• Promoting nanotechnology commercialization

• Fostering networking and R&D collaboration among stakeholders

• Suggestions invited from experts

Thank you

For more information, contact

Satyabrata Sahu, Ph.D.

UNESCAP-APCTT

P.O. Box 4575, C-2, Qutab Institutional Area, New Delhi – 110 016, India

Tel : 91-11-30973756 | Fax : 91-11-26856274

Email : sahus@un.org | Website : www.apctt.org, nanotech.apctt.org,

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