Monday, February 18, 2013
Room 300 (Hynes Convention Center)
Elicia Maine will discuss her findings from a sample of over 200 firms active in the emerging global bio-nano sector. The firms engaged in bio-nano research and development span the range from start-up firm to multinational pharmaceutical, biotech, chemical, and electronics firms: two thirds of bio-nano firms are relatively young and relatively small. The United States dominates this sector, with more than half of all bio-nano firms located in the USA. Even within this sector which epitomizes the confluence of technology streams, there is a broad range of technological diversity, with the most diverse firms overall coming from a base in electronics, the most diverse start-up firms coming from a base in nanomaterials, and the most narrowly focused firms coming from a biotechnology/pharmaceutical base. The R&D management practices around knowledge diversity are investigated.