The process of any new technology being accepted into society is accompanied by various obstacles and difficulties, no matter how superb the technology. Nanotechnology, for which high prospects are anticipated, is no exception, and its public acceptance is in fact making extremely slow progress.

What moral lessons have we learnt from our research and development in science and technology up to now and from the history of the public acceptance of such technologies, and how must we put these lessons to good use in the research and development of nanotechnology? The challenge of achieving a new methodology for technological development, which starts with considerations for societal impacts and public acceptance from the stages of research and development, is about to begin for nanotechnology.

The U.S. government held its first workshop regarding societal implication in September, 2000, and since, has allocated roughly 10% of the nanotechnology budget to research regarding societal implication. A feature of this allocation is that it includes not only risk-related research, but also many development topics of core technologies whose public acceptance is not easy, reflecting the government’s efforts to place emphasis on return of research and development investments as a result of the lesson learnt from the case of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). This basic stance is reflected in the systemization of functions in Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (WWICS) for research of public acceptance of emerging technologies, as well as in programs such as the “Green nanotechnology Initiative” led by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

EU as well, is undertaking comprehensive initiatives related to societal imlication, beginning with risk evaluation of nanoparticles. Further, of growing interest are efforts by the UK which is advancing its own public acceptance initiatives. In response to the report compiled by the Royal Society and the Royal Academy of Engineering in July, 2004, the British government established an inter-ministry collaborative system for research and policy formulation regarding the societal implication of nanotechnology in February of the following year. At the same time, it established frameworks for dialogue and debate in order to reflect public opinion in the system, and supports such activities in terms of funding as well.

Such initiatives regarding societal issues were slow to develop in Japan, owing to various reasons such as subconscious negative awarenesses, stemming from the misinterpretation that risk = Kiken (danger), that hampered development of risk-based discussions, and the negative effects remaining from the government’s vertical administrative structure, of promotion-oriented factions rivaling restriction-oriented factions. The situation in Japan only began to change significantly from 2004.

We have held open forums since August 5, 2004, with the objective of availing a place for information sharing in Japan regarding this issue and for creating a network. We have been working upon the basic stance of approaching both the risks and the benefits of nanotechnology, objectively and correctly. At the Keidanren hall on February 1, 2005, Japan’s first comprehensive symposium regarding the societal impacts of nanotechnology was held, by AIST, the National Institute for Materials Science, the National Institute for Environmental Studies, and the National Institute of Health Sciences of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, and backed by relevant ministries.

The framework of coordination between these four public research institutes is carried on in “Research Project on Facilitation of Public Acceptance of Nanotechnology,” a project in the FY2005 Project for Special Coordination Funds for Promoting Science and Technology of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. In the project, 70 participants conducted investigations aiming to make policy recommendations regarding issues such as risk management, environmental impact, health impact, and ethical/social issues. On February 1, 2006, the international symposium “Exploring the Small World: Role of Public Research Institutes” was held, and the results of investigative research by the project were reported.

The policy proposals compiled by the project regarding responsible research and development of nanotechnology were reflected in the strategies for the field of nanotechnology/materials in Japan’s Third Science and Technology Basic Plan for 2006-2010 by the Council for Science and Technology Policy. Specifically, standardization of nanotechnology, risk control measures, outreach activities, literacy enhancement, and education/human resources development are indicated, among others, as the issues to be tackled by various ministries. An example of materialization of the above is the launch of activities of the NEDO-sponsored new research and development project “Risk Assessment & Management of Manufactured Nanomaterialas ” led by Dr. Junko Nakanishi, Director of the Research Center for Chemical Risk Management at AIST.

In 2005, the year we launched the project mentioned above, AIST also launched projects for risk management of nanoparticles and standardization of nanotechnology. The prompt actions taken by AIST in response to expectations of private-sector corporations and the government since then have evolved significantly, and AIST has already become a global leader regarding social acceptance of nanotechnology.

Attempts to position the issues, such as societal impact and public acceptance encompassing risk management and standardization, in the stages of research and development constitute an original research and development strategy of AIST, aimed at creation of innovation from core technologies. At the same time, AIST is expected to generate large outcomes which are required in the runup to full scale development of nanotechnology. These include the streamlining of various relevant laws, industrial standardization, and development of social platforms including risk governance. Consideration for the issues such as standardization and risk management during the process of core technology development is truly the driving force behind the creation of innovation from AIST.

From June 26 to 28, 2006, at the Gakushikaikan, we held the Second International Dialogue on Responsible Research and Development of Nanotechnology, in which about 90 participants gathered from 21 countries as well as Taiwan and EU, to carry out discussions regarding the following five topics: environment health and safety issues, ethical legal and societal issues, education and capacity building, developing country issues, and nanotechnology standardization setting.

In the keynote lecture, AIST’s President Hiroyuki Yoshikawa raised the point that it is important to maintain harmony instead of mutual exclusion in the maturation of both technology and society. The fundamental concept of this harmony is that we, the researchers, are required not to simply indicate the benefits offered by nanotechnology, but to form a societal consensus regarding the degree of the unavoidable risks that can be accepted, based upon a neutral assessment of risks and benefits. The responsibility of the researchers is to advance this assessment scientifically and link it to the research and development of core technologies, in order to implement responsible research and development. In doing so, we may lead core technologies, without imposing, to harmonious creation of innovation. This is what one of the participants described as “responsible innovation.”

The future society opened up by nanotechnology

Not only does nanotechnology improve our lives by dramatically advancing existing technologies, but it constitutes a new technology that will also prove useful in resolving various issues facing society today, such as energy and food. However, looking at reality, according to statistics of the World Bank, we find that half of the world’s population of 6.5 billion has no access to clean water and suffers poverty with no prospects for the future. In Japan as well, as we advance technological developments only prioritizing economics effects, we are seeing a widening of the social divide, the resulting strain of which is beginning to cause social instability.

In order to realize our common dream of a sustainable future society filled with the benefits of science and technology, we need to establish a new methodology for research and development of nanotechnology encompassing the perspective of social acceptance, and execute it responsibly as well as reform the awareness of researchers.