Collaborating Organisations

Fully aligned to complement existing trade associations as well as governmental and non-governmental bodies, the NIA is collaborating with the following organisations on a case-by-case basis. Collaborations range from joint projects to supporting mechanisms and can include a number of different activities; some collaborations are described below in alphabetic order.*

 

 

The Australian Nano Business Forum is the peak national body representing and promoting Australian industries and companies involved in nanotechnology, both domestically and internationally. The ANBF provides a collective voice for member organisations engaged in this emerging technology, as well as facilitating links between other key stakeholders such as government, funding, regulatory and research entities.

Other roles undertaken by the ANBF include:

• provide a mechanism for industry development incorporating nanotechnology companies, their suppliers and customers
• facilitate linkages between industry and research communities
• work to increase the uptake of nanotechnologyby industry
• build confidence in nanotechnology in the investor community
• deliver a range of member services including commercialisation support, education and training, and advocacy to Government.

To find out more, visit the ANBF website.  

 

 

The Asia Pacific Nanotechnology Forum (APNF) offers a unique platform for networking across the Asia region between governments, developing industry, venture capital, and R&D Centres.

This year’s annual APNF International Symposium on Nanotechnology in Environmental Protection and Pollution (ISNEPP), held at Fort Lauderdale (USA) is supported by the NIA and some of its corporate members. To download a symposium brochure, click here.

 

 

Since 1962, BIAC (the Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD), has brought together the advice and counsel of the business communities of the member countries of the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development). BIAC participates in the important committee work of the representatives of the 30 member governments and the talented pool of research staff managed by the OECD Secretariat.

The NIA is a member of BIAC’s Nanotechnology Network, and representative of BIAC at OECD working parties, such as the OECD WPMN (Working Party on Manufactured Nanomaterials).

The next meeting of the BIAC Nanotechnology Network will be held on the 9th July 2007 in Washington DC.

 

 

The UK is playing a key role in leading the development of nanotechnology standards and holds both chair and secretariat of ISO TC/229 - Nanotechnologies and CEN/TC 352. In the UK, standardisation of nanotechnologies is the responsibility of the BSI Committee for Nanotechnologies (BSI NTI/1), whose membership includes representatives of the NIA and its corporate members. All representatives participate in a number of different working groups, where they actively contribute to the development of formal standards and other standardisation documents and promote their use by industry and other potential users. To find out more about the BSI Committee for Nanotechnologies, visit the BSI NTI/1 website.

 

 

The UK Government’s Council of Science and Technology (CST) has published its Nanoscience and Nanotechnologies Review. For six months, the CST has been reviewing the Government’s progress on commitments it made two years ago in the Government's response response to the Royal Society/Royal Academy of Engineering report Nanoscience and Nanotechnologies: Opportunities and Uncertainties. The NIA actively supported the CST Nanotechnology Review through direct meetings between the review committee and representatives of the NIA and its corporate members; the meetings were aimed at obtaining a comprehensive body of evidence for the Review.

To read more about the CST Review and to download the full Review Annex of written and oral evidence, visit the CST Nanotechnology Review website.

Follow this links to read the NIA comments in the Financial Times.

The UK Government Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) is working to promote the responsible development, use and fate of nanoscale materials. Our primary roles in this respect are to manage any potential risks to the environment and to maximise the environmental benefits of nanotechnologies.

In September 2006, DEFRA launched Voluntary Reporting Scheme (VRS) for engineered nanoscale materials for industry and research organisations to provide Government with information relevant to understanding the potential risks posed by free engineered nanoscale materials.

The NIA has fully endorsed the DEFRA’s VRS and is actively supporting submissions to the scheme by offering a free service that helps with the collection of the required data and the completion and submission of the data sheet. If you would like to find out more about the NIA’s VRS submission service, please contact enquiries@nanotechia.co.uk.  

 

 

 

The Flanders Nano Bio Alliance aims to create a dynamic, collective voice for the Flemish small tech community.
The FNBA was created in 2006 by IMEC and the Government of Flanders, Belgium. It is the Alliance's responsibility to help make Flanders the most attractive place to live and work in a technology minded society.
For more information, visit the website of the Flanders NBA.

 

 

Insight Investment, the asset manager of HBOS, is one of the UK’s largest investment managers. As of December 2006, it managed £98.6 billion of assets on behalf of HBOS retail customers and 300 institutional clients, such as pension and insurance funds.

Insight Investment is committed to being an active and responsible investor. Operating according to a policy on Investor Responsibility & Corporate Governance, Insight Investment works actively on behalf of its clients to encourage the companies, in which it invests, to adopt high standards of corporate governance and a wide range of corporate responsibility issues.

The NIA collaborates with Insight Investment the Royal Society (see below) on the development of strategies and initiatives that support business in responding to the technical, social and commercial uncertainties of nanotechnology.

 

 

The Institute of Nanotechnology is a charitable organization created to foster, develop and promote all aspects of science and technology in those domains where dimensions and tolerances in the range of 0.1 nm to 100nm play a critical role.

The NIA supports the IoN’s Nano Master’s Course Directory; this website-based directory provides a means for students to search for details of Nano Masters courses of interest to them, using the drop-down options from the criteria above, or viewing a short summary overview of our full list of courses. This Directory also enables representatives from industry to assess which Nano Masters courses currently involve the skills, and address the areas, that are essential in prospective employees.

The NIA was instrumental in the creation of the Directory in a number of ways, and is grateful to The Technology Partnership, for its support during the creation of the Directory.

 

 

The OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) groups 30 member countries sharing a commitment to democratic government and the market economy. With active relationships with some 70 other countriesand economies, NGOs and civil society, it has a global reach. The OECD plays a prominent role in fostering good governance in the public serviceand in corporate activity. It helps governments to ensure the responsiveness of key economic areas with sectoral monitoring, and produces internationally agreed instruments, decisions and recommendationsto promote rules of the game in areas where multilateral agreement is necessary for individual countries to make progress in a globalised economy.

In September 2006, the Chemicals Committee of the OECD established a Working Party on Manufactured Nanomaterials (WPMN). This group is concerned with the implications for the safety for human health and the environment of the use of nanomaterials, focussing on testing and assessment methods.

As a BIAC representative (see above), the NIA has been confirmed full member of the OECD WPMN Steering Group 6 (topic: Co-operation on Risk Assessment and Exposure Measurement) and additional back-up delegate for Steering Group 2 (topic: EHS Research strategies on Manufactured Nanomaterials); these steering groups have been established according to the proposed action plan developed at the 1st OECD WPMN meeting, held 26th – 27th October 2006 in London.

The 2nd meeting of the OECD WPMN will be held 25th - 27th April in Berlin.

Follow this link to find out more about the current and planned work of the OECD WPMN or to download an OECD Update on Nanotechnologies and the safety of Manufactured Nanomaterials.

 

 

Together with the Royal Society, Insight Investment, and the Nanotechnology KTN, the NIA is a Founding Partner of the Responsible NanoCode initiative.

This initiative aims to develop a voluntary, principles-based Code of Conduct (‘Code’) that may be adopted by businesses involved in developing, manufacturing and retailing products using nanotechnologies.

The Code will be designed to establish a consensus of what constitutes good practice in businesses across the nanotechnology value chain (i.e. from research and development to manufacturing, distribution and retailing) so that businesses can align their processes with emerging good practice and form the foundation for the development of indicators of compliance.

 

 

The Royal Society

The Royal Society is the independent scientific academy of the UK and the Commonwealth dedicated to promoting excellence in science. The Society plays an influential role in national and international science policy and supports developments in science engineering and technology in a wide range of ways.

In 2004 The Royal Society together with the Royal Academy of Engineering, published a report the risks and benefits of nanotechnologies, commissioned by the UK Government.  The report entitled Nanoscience and nanotechnologies: opportunities and uncertainties is widely regarded as the seminal work on this topic.

The NIA collaborates with the Royal Society and Insight Investment (see above) on the development of strategies and initiatives that support business in responding to the technical, social and commercial uncertainties of nanotechnology.

 

 

Established for over 25 years, SORIS is an information, intelligence and introduction service for chemical and related companies.  It has a proven record as an “industrial dating agency” for delivering business opportunities and information to its members and finding suppliers for clients. SORIS is particularly good at collecting and handling “soft” information, so sometimes acts as an “industrial agony aunt” in listening to members’ problems and guiding them to the appropriate helping hands.

SORIS and the NIA are collaborating on technology transfer initiatives, industry/technology match-making exercises and IP brokerage activities.

 

 

* DISCLAIMER: The Nanotechnology Industries Association is not responsible for any non-NIA activities or publications or for the content or reliability of any websites we link to on the NIA website. Listing should not be taken as endorsement of any kind. We cannot guarantee that these links will work all of the time and we have no control over the availability of linked pages.

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