The Department of Science and Technology (DST) today outlined its national nanotechnology strategy.
The strategy, approved by Cabinet in late 2005, establishes government`s plans to create an enabling environment for nanotechnology research by building infrastructure and developing human resources in the field.
It proposes the establishment of nanotechnology centres that will provide researchers with advanced instruments for design, synthesis, characterisation, modelling and fabrication.
The strategy also suggests the creation of research and innovation networks to enhance collaboration among traditional science disciplines, research teams and institutions.
Science and technology deputy minister Derek Hanekom says public and private sector investment will also be channelled towards undergraduate and postgraduate research to develop human resources required for research.
"In order to maximise the use of our own intellectual property and to realise business opportunities, we must together seek to invest in technologies that will enable us to commercialise our nanotechnology products in the global arena," he says.
ICT opportunities
The national nanotechnology strategy`s key focus areas include poverty reduction, key technology platforms (including biotechnology and ICT), advanced manufacturing and leveraging resource-based industries.
Pontsho Maruping, GM of the DST`s Frontier Science and Technology Unit, says the potential opportunities for the ICT sector lie in the development of advanced materials.
"Once you understand the fundamentals of nanoscience, there is potential to develop applications in everything including ICT," she says.
Maruping says the strategy also presents opportunities to boost the local ICT industry. For example, there is huge ICT involvement in building models and predicting properties of materials in the process of doing research, she says. This will have direct impact on the local ICT sector, she adds.
Funding
Maruping says the DST will allocate R170 million over the next three years from the 2006/7 financial year. However, it is unclear how much of the funding will be spent on ICT infrastructure.
She says roll-out of the strategy has already begun. The initial focus is to ensure infrastructure required to support nanotechnology research is in place, she says. The DST allocated R14 million in the past financial year for acquisition of research infrastructure.
Exploring possibilities
Richard Hurst, an analyst with BMI-TechKnowledge, welcomes government`s nanotechnology strategy.
"At this stage we don`t know how nanoscience will affect the different industries and it`s good that government is looking at what is possible. It`s not what we can see, but what you can`t see that we should be concerned about," he says.
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