Mike Treder, Executive Director of the CRN:

Indonesian newspaper readers will get a treat today if they go to the Op/Ed pages of the Jakarta Post. In a cogent and stimulating essay, Mohamad Mova Al 'Afghani (a member of the CRN Task Force) describes why "Developing countries must be ready for nanotechnology."

Exponential manufacturing will not require a large number of people or large sites to conduct product-fabrication. Consequently, factories, giant machineries and its workers will no longer be required...

The revolution in manufacturing resulting from MNT [molecular nanotechnology] may also halt international trade of goods, as comparative advantages among nations in terms of natural resources will become obsolete. At the point where resource scarcity is no longer an issue, the only relevant comparative advantage is probably the ownership of knowledge capital, that is to say, a generation of highly skilled knowledge workers...

I have three recommendations worth considering in order to prevent or mitigate the above risks, namely (i) reformulating education, (ii) developing the legal system and ethics and (iii) promoting international cooperation in the field of MNT.

Al 'Afghani is an attorney working in corporate law and intellectual property. His legal background, his involvement in international business affairs, and his perspective as a citizen of a developing country give him a unique perspective. Readers of the Jakarta Post are fortunate for this opportunity to begin learning about nanotechnology from him.

But no matter where you live or work, I recommend reading the entire essay.

Christine Peterson, Founder and VP Policy of the Foresight Nanotech Institute:

Writing in The Jakarta Post, Indonesia’s leading English language newspaper, is attorney Mohamad Mova Al ‘Afghan. He looks specifically at molecular nanotechnology, which he defines as “the capability to assemble any product than can be designed directly from atoms and molecules.” See the full article, or these excerpts:

“The revolution in manufacturing resulting from MNT may also halt international trade of goods, as comparative advantages among nations in terms of natural resources will become obsolete. At the point where resource scarcity is no longer an issue, the only relevant comparative advantage is probably the ownership of knowledge capital, that is to say, a generation of highly skilled knowledge workers…

“Engineers, network analysts, sociologists, economists, ethicists and anthropologists might also be in high demand in post-MNT societies, taking note of their ability to develop interdisciplinary approaches. Professions relying heavily on statutory regulations such as lawyers might require a rapid unlearning and relearning since the post-MNT regulatory paradigm might be totally different from today’s paradigm.

“Development in the fields of legal systems and ethics would certainly involve radical changes in almost all areas of the law. Ethical questions such as the legitimacy of germ line therapies, induction of nanotech-enabled psychoactive drugs, cognitive enhancement through neurosurgeric procedures and attempts toward longevity would arise, and it is therefore imperative for clerics and ulema today to formulate their ethical positions on such cases…

“In the field of intellectual property, core technologies for MNT can be regarded as a ‘heritage of mankind’. Derivative nanotech design technology can be freed from patent and open-sourced.”

You know you’re not in Kansas anymore when ethical issues are being referred to ulema (Muslim scholars who are arbiters of sharia, Islamic law). —Christine

Republications:

IPfrontline, a leading Magazine on Intellectual Property
Nanotechnology Now, Nanotechnology Portal

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