International Nanotechnology and Society Network

The International Nanotechnology and Society Network (INSN) is a coalition of researchers and institutions exploring the relationship between society, social change, and nanoscience research. Members from 37 institutions in 11 countries participate in the network, which is headquartered at Arizona State University (ASU) in Tempe, and additionally affiliated with the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB). Both ASU and UCSB are homes to Centers for Nanotechnology in Society created by 2005 National Science Foundation (NSF) grants, and ASU's CNS is the largest such research center in the world.

The INSN's stated mission is to “advance knowledge, promote institutional innovation, engage policy processes, and improve decisions related to the societal impacts of nanotechnologies and other areas of innovation that nanotechnology may help to enable.” The [Page 358]network works to build connections between those in the social sciences and those in engineering and natural sciences in order to advance the understanding and examination of the intersection between nanoscience and social change, not just in the classroom, but at the institutional and governmental levels. Special focus is given to the promotion of anticipatory governance and well-informed forward-thinking regulatory policies.

Members meet periodically (an annual general meeting and an additional research meeting, usually piggybacking on other conferences relevant to the field), but most communication is conducted electronically, through mailing lists and other synchronous or asynchronous modes, with formal and informal writings disseminated through the INSN's Website. Research can be shared among members in the hopes of fostering synergy through formal collaboration or informal openness and “looking over the shoulder,” as you would find among colleagues sharing a laboratory or office space.

The INSN's executive committee is made up of four institutional representatives (as of 2009: Barbara Harthorn, CNS-UCSB; Arie Rip, NanoNed; Daniel Sarewitz, CNS-ASU; James Wilsdon, Demos) and four geographic representatives (as of 2009: Guillermo Foladori, Universidad Autonoma de Zacatecas, Mexico; Julia Guivant, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Brazil; Alfred Nordmann, European Union; Masahiro Takemura, Japan).

The INSN's work is divided into six overlapping and interlinked areas, described as follows:

• Engagement with nanoscientists and engineers, and the design of research environments
• Societal governance of technological change
• Political economy, culture of nanotechnology
• S&T dynamics
• Frames and claims
• Learning

Point one and six are considered “internal” to nano-science, while two and three are external; three and four deal with research, one and two deal with policy and practice. Five and six overlap all of these categories.

The “engagement” of point one refers to the interaction between social and natural scientists with neither feeling marginalized by the other, to better inform both parties about the work of the other, encouraging natural scientists to consider their work in terms of societal impact and social scientists to have a better grasp of the workings of nanoscience and the environment in which nanoscience research is conducted. S&T Dynamics is the INSN's term for “investigations into the factors that influence the direction, velocity, synergies and dead ends within the nanotechnology research enterprise.”

“Frames and claims” refers to “claims about the NSE enterprise, and how they are framed in broader context,” which impacts the public view of nanoscience and has deeper commercial and political ramifications. This effect is at the heart of the network's core beliefs.

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