Nanotechnology: An Overview Based on Indicators and Statistics

Nanotechnology is commonly considered to offer considerable promise extending from businessopportunities throughout various industries to broader socio-economic benefits, especially in the context ofpressing global challenges such as those related to energy, health care, clean water and climate change.Governments around the world have invested heavily in R&ampD in this field and companies are alsobecoming increasingly engaged. Despite this promise, investments and company involvement innanotechnology developments are still poorly monitored. The objective of this report is to provide acomprehensive overview of these developments through a systematic and critical analysis of availableindicators and statistics, while acknowledging that there is a need for further work to both broaden therange of, and develop further, nanotechnology metrics.