NIRT: Nanotechnology in the Public Interest: Regulatory Challenges, Capacity, and Policy Recommendations

这个纳米结构跨学科研究团队（NIRT）奖是响应活性纳米结构和纳米系统（ANN）征集（NSF 05-610）和与长期纳米尺度科学和工程进展相关的社会和教育问题的主题。本项目评估现有的联邦和州政府监管能力——这里定义为科学专业知识、法律权威、组织设计和相关监管框架的充分性——以应对新兴纳米级创新和产品带来的社会和政策挑战，并在适当的情况下，为建立应对这些挑战的必要能力提出建议。该项目评估了当前的州和联邦的管理能力，并确定了在这些能力还不足以解决纳米技术的新的和横切的挑战的地方建立能力需要什么。该项目的重点是来自国家基础设施研究所战略计划（2004年）的两个横切应用——环境改善，以及医学和健康——但获得的经验教训适用于更广泛的领域。总的来说，有效的监管机构，以组织、专业知识和框架的形式，可以促进纳米技术研究和开发的进步，促进包含纳米级技术的产品的顺利和及时的商业化，保护公众免受纳米技术和纳米技术革命可能产生的负面影响，并在这个过程中，对公众对纳米技术和纳米技术革命的关注作出反应。额外的关注是评估和发展马萨诸塞州的必要能力，马萨诸塞州目前处于纳米技术研究和开发的前沿，对纳米技术对其未来经济健康的中心地位有必要的期望。教育和推广工作解决了在当前和未来的决策者，特别是在相关的联邦、州和地方机构和办公室的行政专业人员，以及报道纳米技术相关问题的记者中建立能力的伴随需要。NNI希望21世纪的劳动力在纳米材料和工艺方面受过专门的培训；这必须包括政策制定者和记者。

This Nanostructure Interdisciplinary Research Team (NIRT) award is in response to the Active Nanostructure and Nanosytems (ANN) solicitation (NSF 05-610) and the theme of Societal and Educational Issues Associated with Long-Term Nanoscale Science and Engineering Advances. This project evaluates existing federal and state government regulatory capacity--defined here as sufficiency in scientific expertise, legal authority, organizational design, and relevant regulatory frameworks--to address the societal and policy challenges posed by emerging nanoscale innovations and products, and, where appropriate, make recommendations for building requisite capacity to address these challenges. The project assesses current state and federal regulatory capacity and identifies what is required to build capacity where it is not already sufficient to address the novel and crosscutting challenges of nanotechnology. The project's focus is on two crosscutting applications derived from the NNI Strategic Plan (2004)--environmental improvement, and medicine and health--but lessons obtained apply more generally. Overall, effective regulatory institutions, in the form of organizations, expertise, and frameworks, can serve to promote the advancement of nanotechnology research and development, promote smooth and timely commercialization of products containing nanoscale technologies, protect the public from possible negative effects of nanotechnology and the nanotech revolution, and, in the process, be responsive to public concerns regarding nanotechnology and the nanotech revolution. Additional attention is paid to assessing and developing requisite capacity in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, a state currently at the forefront of nanotechnology research and development with requisite expectations about the centrality of nanotechnology to its future economic health. Education and outreach efforts address the concomitant need to build capacity among current and future policymakers, particularly administrative professionals in relevant federal, state, and local agencies and offices, as well as journalists who cover nanotechnology related issues. The NNI expects the workforce of the 21st century to have specialized training in nanoscale materials and processes; this must include policymakers and journalists.