UK, India Form Nanotechnology Working Group

UK and India has joined hands to form a joint NWG (Nanotechnology Working Group) to thrust the development and expansion of advanced technologies.

The NWG will be formally launched in the coming two months as a part of British government’s move to prop up the nanotechnology sector of UK in the international arena.

Nanotechnology is a branch of science that has the capability to speed up the development in many industries. Nanotechnology can break the existing silicon limits and make computers much faster by creating smaller and more competent microchips.

Bob Driver, Director, High-tech sectors, UK Trade and Investment (UKTI), a government body, which helps companies operating overseas, says the working group will take the nanotechnology higher and bridge the India and UK technologically together.

Driver, in news published by Computing, said the onus of attracting investments in the UK’s R&D (Research & Development) work is on UKTI. He stressed on the growing interest in nanotechnology and says, “We have a coherent network of nanotechnology centers of excellence and a healthy number of companies which have been successfully invested in”.

David Sharp, nanotechnology expert, UKTI, says the nanotechnology expertise of UK ranks in the top five countries of the world.

“The UK is up there along with the US, Japan, Germany and Korea, but there is a lot of co-operation between countries. The science is pushing forward and has an impact on every sector,” he said.

Nanotechnology sector make the UK economy richer by adding around £23 billion (US$44.66 billion) annually to it and this market share is expected to grow two-fold by 2015. As per UK Trade and Investment, number of companies operating in nanotechnology sector in UK doubled between fiscal 2003-04 and 2004-05.

According to RNCOS report “The World Nanotechnology Market (2006)”, like other developed nations, UK too has recognized nanotechnology as one of the important fields to develop a knowledge-based economy.

The UK government has identified advanced materials, energy, communication, healthcare, and manufacturing as the potential sectors where nanotechnology will significantly influence the British economy.

The research report also discusses global outlook of the nanotechnology market, market analysis by products and applications, update on recent developments in the market, and R&D funding agencies and nanotechnology research centers in UK.