Nanotechnologies’ potential for the poor
Guillaume Flament, Public & Regulatory Affairs Officer for the Nanotechnology Industries Association, offers his
opinion on whether nanotechnologies will serve to widen or shrink the global rich-poor divide
ANALYSIS
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THE TERM ‘NANOTECHNOLOGIES’ was first used by research laboratories and innovative industries just over 20 years ago. Despite this rather short timespan (in terms of traditional innovation cycles), nanotechnologies are already widely known and recognised for their high innovation potential by both the public and decision makers; this has seen them likened to other general-purpose technologies (GPTs) such as the steam engine and the computer. Even the most crude and simple applications of nanotechnologies (eg. the replacement of micro-scale materials with their precision-manufactured nanometre-sized counterparts) already exhibit exciting and promising features and foster debates demonstrating both enthusiasm and scepticism on where such innovations will lead.
As with any novel technology, the potential political and economic ramifications of nanotechnologies are scrutinised specifically for how they may affect poverty and the ongoing hardships faced in the developing world. Indeed, for some, the numerous promises surrounding the arrival of new nanotechnologies are seen as technological fixes to many of the challenges faced by developing countries, where populations suffer from critical vulnerabilities to hunger, disease and disasters, and have little or difficult access to energy, education and information. Others are highly sceptical about how a technology that operates at a billionth of a metre can be used by – let alone help – societies that have missed entire periods of industrialisation, and often support the idea that the expansion of nanotechnologies will only benefit those who have already acquired the wealth of former technologies.
MAXIMISING BENEFITS, MINIMISING DRAWBACKS
The Nanotechnology Industries Association (NIA)’s report Closing the Gap: The Impact of Nanotechnologies on the global Divide aims to shed light on the debate of nanotechnologies’ usefulness to the poor and developing world by reviewing the evidence of their technologies’ influence on the distribution of wealth. In its research, NIA has sought ways to maximise nanotechnologies’ benefits and minimise their drawbacks.
In the course of its study, NIA has found that nanotechnologies open the door to new inventions in every field of human activity. As a result, the currently imbalanced distribution of wealth could indeed be reshuffled, but there is little evidence that such a reshuffle would necessarily end in an increase in the global wealth divide, since scientific research into nanotechnologies has led to developments that could (and in some cases, already do) directly benefit the poor. Consequently, nanotechnologies are sometimes seen as having the potential to narrow the existing gap between the developed and developing world.
THE RICH-POOR DIVIDE
Global inequalities are well-documented and can be understood, and even measured, by various different indicators, such as access to water and education, or consideration of the prevalence of some infectious diseases. Studies can help illustrate this divide, such as one recently published by Oxfam claiming that the 85 richest people in the world own as much as the 3.5 billion poorest. Such statistics regularly remind the public of the extent of this divide. At the same time, however, progress has been made towards the achievement of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), whose aim is to reduce this divide through a set of actions that include fighting disease and improving the health of women and children.
The term ‘nano-gap’ (or ‘nano-divide’) is a collective concept for the perception of how nanotechnologies will impact these global inequalities. This concept was first described by the UK’s Royal Society and Royal Academy of Engineering, which identified ‘the potential for nanotechnologies to intensify the gap between
rich and poor countries because of their different capacities to develop and exploit [them]’. By contrast, many that have observed the innovation potential of nanotechnologies applied in real-life scenarios see in this latest GPT a possible means of helping to attain the MDGs.
Nanotechnologies already show significant potential in improving the health, safety and quality of life on this planet. This potential manifests itself in diverse ways. Firstly, nanotechnologies offer new applications with improved properties in key sectors such as healthcare, water filtration and agriculture, and therefore offer a direct benefit to all populations, including the poorest. Secondly, nanotechnologies are widely regarded as a source of important growth and economic development, and are even sometimes coined as the next Industrial Revolution; developing countries could therefore benefit from the opportunities nanotechnologies present, seizing the chance to leapfrog over many years of industrial revolution and boost their economic growth through improved and cleaner technologies.
OFFERING NEW POSSIBILITIES
One of the benefits of nanotechnologies is their multitude of applications: by way of example, the new possibilities they offer for materials and sensors have a vast range of promising applications across every industrial sector. NIA’s report identifies several examples of devices in the fields of medicine, water treatment, agriculture, energy generation and others, which could have highly positive outcomes for vulnerable populations.
Additionally, nanotechnology-enabled innovations often come at an unprecedented low cost because they use a minimum amount of raw materials and therefore enable increased efficiency. As an example, nano-enabled sensors which detect diseases in contaminated blood, or pollutants in water, use very small quantities of materials, such as nano-sized gold particles, to work. Such devices also come with the advantage that they are often portable, easy to use and can be constructed to be resilient. This enables them to be deployed in the rural areas of the developing countries where they are most needed. These devices could offer significant improvements to the living conditions of the poor and, as demonstrated in NIA’s report, some initiatives in this area are currently ongoing.
Nanotechnology-enabled variants of incumbent technologies and devices can have a transformative effect on living conditions in deprived areas. One key example of this is solar lighting, which is rapidly progressing thanks to nanotechnology. It will ultimately deliver cheaper, more robust, more efficient and more durable light sources that can be deployed in households throughout the developing world.
BARRIERS TO PROGRESS
Aside from these promising applications, the NIA report also sets out the existing barriers that have to be overcome in order to make the most out of nanotechnologies in the developing world. While devices produced with the help of nanotechnologies might have a relatively low production costs, the amount of research and the cost of research facilities required to create such products can be unaffordable for developing countries. Working with nanotechnologies often requires clean rooms, and such environments are seldom available to those lacking funds.
There are nevertheless examples of international collaborations that provide equipped nanotechnology research centres in countries such as Ghana, Egypt and Senegal. Such initiatives are part of many efforts towards empowering the developing world in the field of nanotechnology. While the technologies are still in their infancy, local businesses are being encouraged to get involved, so that
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research and products can be directed towards national needs and capabilities, and combine nanotechnology’s innovation potential with enhanced training facilities. Such efforts towards empowering developing populations to use nanotechnologies have been praised and supported by many NGOs. For example, such an approach was lauded in the water sector by the French NGO GRET, which also emphasised the need for North-South scientific partnerships in order to adapt nanotechnology to local uses and contribute to ownership and technology transfer towards these countries.
BRICS AND MORTAR
Support for the development of nanotechnologies in the developing world is expected to not only come from the industrialised world but also from emerging countries such as the BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), which can play the role of regional drivers. Regional dynamics may help with the inclusion of the least developed countries in the global development of nanotechnologies.
The advent of the digital era and rapidly growing access to the internet all over the globe opens up additional gateways for populations in the developing world to gain access to information relating to R&D. Practical information, such as how to build your own nano-enabled devices, can also be found via the web. For example, the website Open Source Nano allows nanotechnology capacity building in developing countries by providing DIY
instructions for nanotechnology-based items such as water filtration devices.
In a complex and increasingly globalised world, it is difficult to quantify the impact that nanotechnologies will have on the global nano-divide. A number of promising applications nevertheless exist, and developing countries are increasingly involved and active in securing nanotechnology-based innovations to improve the living standards of their people. The question, therefore, is not if nanotechnologies are going to widen the gap between the rich and the poor, but rather how to maximise their benefits for all and reduce the inequalities which have thus far afflicted the world.
About NIA
Established in 2005, the Nanotechnology Industries
Association (NIA) is the only global industry-focused trade association for
nanotechnologies. With branches across Europe and the head office in Brussels,
NIA collaborates with regulators and stakeholders on the national, European and international levels so as to secure
a publicly and regulatory supportive environment for the continuing
advancement and establishment of nanotechnologies.
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