The most recent high profile nanotech development was announced earlier this week by IBM. It has developed a prototype chip that copes with a data storage density of one terabyte per square inch - 20 times higher than the densest magnetic storage currently available. In practical terms, this equates to storing 25 million pages of data on a surface the size of a postage stamp, or 15 gigabytes of data on a wristwatch-sized device.
Apart from nanotech’s potential for IT, the Commission sees a future in which “machines not bigger than a molecule will one day surf our blood stream, search and destroy infected tissues, and heal our wounds.” Other potential applications are in the automotive, cosmetics, chemicals, packaging, energy and robotic industries.
Today, EU Research Commissioner Philippe Busquin will chair an information day on nanotech new frontiers in Grenoble, France.
Nanotech research is still in its start-up phase, and the Commission reasons that it will be far more effective if co-ordinated and supported at EU level. The Commission will therefore allocate its investment to nanotech research within a framework programme.
Commissioner Busquin said:
"Enterprises cannot do everything on their own. The challenge is so big that it has to be faced by solid public-private partnerships. Public authorities also have to monitor the ethics and social aspects of nanotechnology. The US government is pouring $600 to $700 million per year into this sector. The Commission will respond by allocating more than € 700 million to nanotechnology research over four years within the forthcoming 6th Research Framework Programme (2003-2006). With private sector contributions this amount should rise to € 1 billion."