28 June 2016
Researchers and experts at Orkestra-Basque Institute of Competitiveness, Tecnalia, CIC Nanogune, NanoBasque-Spri, and the Universities of Deusto and of the Basque Country, have collaborated in a project analysing the development and implantation of nanoscience, micro- and nanotechnology in the Basque Country.
This project, known as Nanotransfer, identifies the commitment to nanoscience as a fundamental strategy in the productive transformation process in the Basque Country and highlights the need to accelerate the incorporation of nanotechnologies in manufacturing processes and in the actual products put on the market.
One of the fundamental conclusions of the Nanotransfer Project is the enormous permeability and multisectorial presence that nanotechnologies will achieve in coming years. In the opinion of the researchers of the six organisations that make up this consortium, the Basque Country must continue intensifying the development of nanotechnologies and their incorporation into the business sphere. According to the project’s final report, unlike the case of other recent technologies like ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) or biotechnologies, nanotechnologies will not constitute their own sector, but will be present in every sector. For this reason, emphasises the project, it is vital to facilitate transfer to the market and the commercial exploitation of the advances made in the field of research.
The Basque Country is in an intermediate position with regard to the creation of patents in nanoscience and nanotechnologies in the European zone (EU28), but not in terms of their application in industrial processes and products, where it finds itself in a weaker position.
The need for specific equipment and instruments, the investment companies have to make and the lack of qualified staff are the main barriers to entry hindering the incorporation of nanotechnologies into industry.
However, 60% of the Basque companies that have begun to incorporate nanotechnologies acknowledge that they have obtained a new or an improved product, and 30% confirm that they have achieved new or improved production processes.
The Nanotransfer project recognises the important role played by companies of a certain size, already existing and with the capacity to invest in R+D activities when it comes to accelerating the development of nano- and microtechnologies, unlike the situation in other fields, like biosciences, where the acceleration occurs in start-up companies which maintain close links with universities and research centres.
An analysis of the current situation in the Basque Country reflects different types of companies with nano-and microtechnological applications. Three main groups can be identified:
• Nanomaterials: formed by larger companies, mainly in the metallurgical, chemical and plastic manufacturing sectors. These are companies that are relatively well-established in the market and that develop product innovation activities.
• Nanobiotechnological: this group is formed by newer and smaller companies, created as spin-offs by the pharmaceutical industry from research centres, universities … They are R+D-intensive companies which incorporate nanotechnologies into their products.
• Micro-nanoelectronic: this groups together medium-sized companies that have incorporated micro- or nanotechnologies into their products.
Almost three-quarters of companies with nanotechnological activities belong to the industrial sector, and the remaining quarter to the service sector. The recipients of nanotechnological goods and services are also fundamentally industrial, above all, of so-called advanced manufacture.
Geographically, nanotechnologies are most prominent in Gipuzkoa, followed by Bizkaia. Gipuzkoa specialises more in nano-materials, nano-electronics and nano-instrumentation, while Bizkaia concentrates more on nano-biotechnology.
The Nanotransfer Project stresses the need to increase the capacity of company absorption and to strengthen appropriate transfer mechanisms for each of the contexts in nanoscience and nanotechnologies. It also highlights the potential of the Basque Country, which offers a geographical concentration of scientific-technological skills which need to be transferred to the field of business, and to this end, the project researchers recommend the incorporation into the industry of professionals with a scientific knowledge base to facilitate the connection between developments in nanoscience and nanotechnologiess and their potential commercial application.
In this regard, they also propose the promotion of transfer mechanisms based upon real collaboration between the different scientific-technological agents, the shared use of infrastructures and staff mobility.
