Monday’s Federal Register carried a notice from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the Nanoscience, Engineering and Technology Subcommittee of the National Science and Technology Council inviting the public to comment on the 2010 National Nanotechnology Initiative Strategic Plan.
The NNI Strategic Plan
is the framework that underpins the nanotechnology work of the NNI
member agencies. It aims to ensure that advances in nanotechnology
research and development (R&D) and their applications to agency
missions and the broader national interest continue unabated in this
still-young field. Its purpose is to facilitate achievement of the NNI
vision by laying out targeted guidance for agency leaders, program
managers, and the research community regarding planning and
implementation of nanotechnology R&D investments and activities.
The NNI Strategic Plan represents the consensus of the
participating agencies as to the high-level goals and priorities of the
NNI and specific objectives for at least the next three years. It
describes the four overarching goals of the NNI, the major Program
Component Areas established in 2004 to broadly track the categories of
investments needed to ensure the success of the initiative, and the
near-term objectives that will be the concrete steps taken toward
collectively achieving the NNI vision and goals. Finally, the plan
describes collaborative interagency activities, including three
Nanotechnology Signature Initiatives that are a new model of
specifically targeted and closely coordinated interagency, cross-sector
collaboration designed to accelerate innovation in areas of national
priority.
The 2010 Strategic Plan is the result of reviews by the President’s Council of Advisors on Science & Technology, the National Research Council, a stakeholders workshop held earlier in July 2010 and comments filed in response to a Federal Register notice published in the issue of July 6, 2010.
The four overarching goals of the NNI refered to above are
1) Advance a world class nanotechnology research and development program
2) Foster the transfer of new technologies into products for commercial and public (non-commercial) benefit
3) Develop and sustain educational resources, a skilled workforce, and the supporting infrastructure and tools to further advance nanotechnology
4) Support responsible development of nanotechnology
Each of these goals is further broken down into four objectives and in some case these objectives are further broken down, with a short paragraph describing the objective and how that objective is to be accomplished.
Other sections of the NNI Strategic Plan examine "The Path Forward", discussing future initiatives and activities, and "Program Component Areas", which includes a chart showing where each federal agency taking part in the NNI fits in.
Members of the public who want to file comments on the 2010 Draft NNI Strategic Plan are encouraged to register online at http://stategy.nano.gov. Comments should be only one page or less and should be filed by November 30, 2010. More details on filing comments may be found at the website.
