Discussion of ranking countries in nanotechnology

A Lux Research article divides nations are into four categories. The details are discussed at soft machines. Dominant (USA, Japan, Germany and South Korea) – strong both in basic research and commercialisation, Ivory Tower (UK and France), strong in basic research but weaker in commercialisation, Niche Players (Israel, Singapore and Taiwan), weaker in basic research but strong in commercialisation of selected regions. China falls into the Minor League category, weak on both measures, and so not even in the top nine of nanotech powers. The report does suggest that China is moving strongly forward but there is no suggestion that it will overtake the current leaders. China is starting to spend more and publish more. The press release focuses on china “CHINA: MOVING FROM LAGGARD TO POWER PLAYER IN NANOTECHNOLOGY”. The recent Lux research study was based on aggregated a total of 17 metrics, of which the publications count and total spending. China was still weak both in nanotechnology activity and in its capacity to use nanotechnology to drive economic growth. Tntlog discusses how not all spending is equal and soft machines has an article that not all research publishing is equal.