A Proposal for a Standard With Innovation Management System

Aurelie Delemarle and Claire Auplat
external arena needs to be set up to take into consideration these externalities. Once done, a new
frame is created as the externalities have been taken for granted. If we take an example, pollution is a
negative externality engender by the production process. But until recently, it was not taken into
consideration.
The overflowings lead to the development of new arenas in which frames are adapted. We show that
the overflowing are deeply linked to sustainable development and that the three interconnected
principles summarized by the Grundtland’s report (1987) are those leading to the overflowing, offering
new opportunities for new frameworks to be developed: environmental efficiency, inter and
intragenerational social justice and participation in decision making.
We argue that these overflowings offer the possibilities for entrepreneurs to act towards creating
sustainable market: i.e. they offer the possibility to take into consideration the externalities and to
internalize them in a new frame. The frame can be re-created by modifying one or several of these to
internalize the externalities. We will test this hypothesis with the nanoscience and technologies (NST)
case study. We will show that they have specificities that induce to re-think the existing frames..
3. Specificities of nanoscience and technologies
3.1 An emerging field
Before describing the specificities of nanoS&T, one need to acknowledge that it is still an emerging
field, although actors try to move from exploration to exploitation (March, 1991). Delemarle et al.
(2010) show an explosive growth, with a rate of growth of 14% per year, when the average growth of
publications accounted for by the Web of Science is 3% or when Human Genetics (an emerging field
in the 1990’s) showed a rate of growth of around 8% (OST,2003). This explosive growth is however
not fully mirrored in patents: they argue that after an initial anticipation of rapid market development, a
plateau in the application appear in 2006. They explain this by saying that exploration still prevails.
3.2 1st specificity: A trans-sectorial technology
NST do not materialize in a single industry. Taking into consideration the patenting activity of the
largest R&D industry players shows, Laredo et al. (2010) show that a majority of the world largest
R&D players (as accounted for by the DTI scoreboard) are involved in nanotechnologies, covering all
fields from electronics to food (see also Auplat (2011)).
3.3 2nd specificity: A global phenomenon
Second, the development of NST is a global phenomenon that breaks the frontiers of past S&T
developments. New players, beyond the triadic countries, are active with Asia and most specifically
China growing in importance over the years. Delemarle et al. (2009) show that 85% of all nano
scientific publications are localized in only 200 clusters. Thus, NST not only involve actors in various
industries, they involve actors all throughout the world. The most dynamic clusters (with the highest
rate of growth over the period 1996-2008), are all but 2 located in Asia; Europe and Americas being
far behind Asia.
3.4 3rd specificity: Scientific and social uncertainties
Third, NST face strong uncertainties in terms of impacts on health and environment on the long term
(Royal Society, 2004; Aitken et al., 2009; Defra, 2009). Indeed, particules at the nanoscale do not
always have the same characteristics (chemical, electronical, physical, structural) than bulk material.
So, each material need to be analysed and characterised.
They also generate societal uncertainties about nano ‘acceptability’ (e.g. Siegrist et al, 2007; Afuah,
1995). National public debates and social movements all over Europe showed the fear that
nanotechnologies engender. Most of the consumers do not know what they are, since
nanotechnologies is only an umbrella term bringing together many different technologies, innovations
and thus issues.
These various elements make markets for nanotechnology-based products difficult to organize and
not sustainable on the long run. We argue that entrepreneurs need to find new ways to put their
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