Why Study the Draft 2014 National Nanotech Initiative Strategic Plan?

The NNI has just released its 2014 draft Strategic Plan for public comment. Aside from the opportunity to submit comments, becoming familiar with the plan offers a number of benefits to nanotech ventures. One is that it provides a useful overview of the agencies involved, which can make it easier to identify potential soures of government funding. It is easy to get lost in government alphabet soup, but this document explains the roles of various agencies and shows their areas of focus. For example, the report provides a link to “Nanotech Signature Initiatives” (NSI’s), which are a high priority from the government’s perspective for development. These areas include nanoscale solar energy collection and conversion, sustainable nanomanufacturing, and nanoelectronics. More info about NSI’s is found here. Another benefit of reviewing the plan is that it provides case studies of successful commercialization of nanotechnology. Insights from a number of different studies is provided in appendices near the end of the plan.