Making It to the Forefront

Nanotechnology, as shortly described as the study of manipulating matter on an atomic and molecular scale, is one of the most dynamic and promising industries, receiving a great deal of attention from researchers, business leaders, investors, and policymakers around the world. In Making It to the Forefront, Nesli Aydogan-Duda has assembled a distinguished group of authors to analyze the particular challenges and opportunities of nanotechnology emergence and management in the developing world. In so doing, they address the issues from several angles, ranging from cultural issues to capital markets, industrial clusters to government policy and legal structure. Drawing from in-depth research and case studies in Turkey, Latin America, India, China, and Iran, and a comparison with the development of the industry in the United states, the authors present a cross-cultural approach, with particular emphasis on the strategic nature of the nanotechnology industry for economic development, consumer welfare, and homeland security. Among the topics they consider are the importance of knowledge transfer from universities to the market and, more generally, the interface between science and its commercialization—and the institutional infrastructure that is necessary to maximize the potential of science and technology. In doing so, the authors provide unprecedented theoretical and empirical contributions to the study of nanotechnology, and, more generally, insight into the complex business, political, and cultural environment that must be established in order for such an industry to thrive in the context of a developing country.