past event

Center on Nanotechnology and Society
1st Annual Nanopolicy Conference
NanoWorld:
Toward a Policy for the Human Future

Nano Luminaries Mihail Roco and Sean Murdock Keynoted
IIT Center on Nanotechnology and Society Nanopolicy Conference in D.C.

Washington, D.C., April 28, 2006 - The nation's leading thinkers and policy makers in the nanotechnology arena shared their views on the future trajectory of this emerging technology during Illinois Institute of Technology's (IIT) Center on Nanotechnology and Society's (Nano & Society) First Annual Nanopolicy Conference in Washington, D.C., on April 28, 2006. The event, NanoWorld: Toward a Policy for the Human Future, featured keynote addresses by Mihail Roco, senior advisor for nanotechnology at the National Science Foundation, and Sean Murdock, executive director of the NanoBusiness Alliance. The program, which drew nearly 100 attendees, was held at the National Press Club.

Nigel M. de S. Cameron, director of Nano & Society, kicked off the program by sharing welcoming remarks and framing the issues to be addressed during the day-long conference. "Nanotechnology's advocates and critics see nano as the transformative technology of the 21st century, looking to the convergence of technologies on the nanoscale as the key to a future in which we have not simply added one more technology to our arsenal, but achieved a final mastery over matter," said Cameron. "The policy choices we make reflect the values of our society. And, as the 21st century progresses, the questions raised today may be the major questions that drive our democracy."

In his keynote address, Roco, who is credited with being the father of the National Nanotechnology Initiative, highlighted the numerous and diverse sources of nano risk, including: environmental, health, and safety issues, especially in the immediate term; and broader ethical, legal, and social issues, such as human development and security, in the longer term. He explained that, rather than a "top-down governmental approach, a horizontal approach that establishes rules of engagement and models for risk governance should be utilized. The approach must take view of the total picture."

Murdock, who provided the second keynote presentation, put the current stage of nano innovation into perspective, stating: "The nano products that are out there today are really product improvements. At present, we are really at the stage of nanoscience." Murdock postulated that nano will ultimately live up to the hype it is being accorded, but that nano's potential will be realized over a long time horizon. "It took hundred of years to invent and perfect the flying machine that DaVinci envisioned," said Murdock. "The same will be true for nano."

The program also included a policy panel featuring: U.S. Representative Mike Honda (D-Calif.), who was a key author of the 21st Century Nanotechnology Research and Development Act; U.S. Representative Brad Sherman (D-Calif.); U.S. Representative Dave Weldon (R-Fla.); and Marty Spitzer, representing U.S. Representative Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY), chairman of the House Committee on Science. Each presenter on the panel stressed the many questions that surround nano's societal implications, today's lack of answers to these questions, and the importance of funding research to address these urgent ethical, legal, and social issues associated with the nascent technology at an early phase in its development. Specifically, Representative Sherman emphasized the need to spend 5% of all government funding for nano research and development on the ethical, legal, and social questions. Sherman also thanked Representative Weldon for using the appropriations process to press the need for more substantial funding for and attention to these critical issues.

In addition, the event featured numerous other panelists and moderators, including: David Guston, principal investigator and director of Arizona State University's Center for Nanotechnology in Society; Davis Baird, director of the University of South Carolina's NanoScience and Technology Studies Group; Andrew Kimbrell, executive director of the International Center for Technology Assessment; Christine Peterson, vice president of public policy at the Foresight Nanotech Institute; Charles Rubin, associate professor at Duquesne University; Brent Blackwelder, president of Friends of the Earth; John Sargent, senior policy analyst at the U.S. Department of Commerce's Office of Technology Policy; David Forman, associate editor of Small Times; Richard Denison, senior scientist at Environmental Defense; Sonia Miller, founder and president of the Converging Technologies Bar Association; Ellen Mitchell, director of IIT's Institute of Psychology; and David Prentice, senior fellow for life sciences at the Family Research Council.

A webcast of the event will soon be available on Nano & Society's website (www.nano-and-society.org).

Founded in 1890, IIT is a Ph.D.-granting technological university awarding degrees in the sciences, mathematics and engineering, as well as architecture, psychology, design, business and law. IIT's interprofessional, technology-focused curriculum prepares the university's 6,200 students for leadership roles in an increasingly complex and culturally diverse global workplace.