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International Development

Nanotechnology, particularly the increase in nanotechnology research and development (R&D) occurring in developing countries, has reinvigorated debates about the relationship between science and technology and international development. Significant debates about nanotechnology and development first emerged in policy, academic and nongovernmental communities around 2000. Largely, the debates have been polarized and echo those about previous emerging technologies, such as biotechnology. In the more prominent view, nanotechnology is touted as a global transformative technology that will be an instrument of economic growth and create an array of social benefits for those living in developing countries. Critics taking the opposing view argue that nanotechnology will be detrimental to developing countries because of social, economic, and legal considerations such as: intellectual property, how nanotechnology could affect the demand for commodities, and the complexities of technology transfer. These factors could mean that nanotechnology will be more likely to benefit affluent societies, will make developing countries more dependent on developed countries and will create greater inequalities between and within nations.

Global Distribution of Research and Development

Analyses of the global distribution of nanotechnology R&D are a launching point for the debate about nanotechnology and international development. Noela Invernizzi, Guillermo Foladori, and Donald Macluran state that as of 2005, 19 countries classified as “developing” by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) are conducting nationally sponsored nanotechnology R&D. A further 18 countries classified as “transitional” by the OECD are also carrying out nationally sponsored R&D. Of these, China, India, and Brazil are leaders in terms of overall investment in R&D. In a further three transitional and 12 developing countries, there is some non-nationally funded nanotechnology R&D being conducted. These numbers have been increasing quickly. For instance, the global total of countries funding nanotechnology research rose from 40 to 62 between 2001 and 2005. However, far more patents related to nanotechnology have been filed by developed countries than developing countries. Furthermore, most countries classified as “least developed” by the OECD or that are in the lowest third of the United Nations (UN) Human Development Index, like sub-Saharan Africa, have largely not engaged with nanotechnology at all.

These numbers can be interpreted in different ways. Patent data implies that there is already a “nano divide” between developed and developing countries: developed countries are conducting far more R&D than developing countries. Furthermore, given that among developing countries nanotechnology R&D is concentrated in only a few countries, and that most of the poorest countries in the world are conducting no R&D, one could also argue that there is a further nano divide among developing countries. On the other hand, the rapid increase of countries with national nanotechnology activities can be used as evidence to argue that nanotechnology R&D is more globally distributed than R&D associated with previous technologies like information technology and biotechnology. This latter view is expressed by those who take the more prominent position in the wider, and highly divided, debate about nanotechnology and international development: that nanotechnology is instrumental in bringing about development.

An Instrument of Development

Viewing nanotechnology as an instrument or tool that will drive international development is a very prominent argument in policy and academic communities. This so-called “instrumental argument” is generally made in two ways: in terms of economic growth and in terms of “pro-poor” innovation.

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