Nanotechnology on the European agenda
Nanotechnology is regarded as the key technology of the 21st century. It has a wide range of applications offering smaller, lighter, faster and better performing materials, components and systems. Nanotechnology helps to improve products and production processes with better characteristics or new functionalities, opening up new market opportunities. Europe holds a leading position in the field and the EU supports an integrated approach for safe and responsible nanotechnology applications. ENF 2007 was an action tasked with the organisation of the 2007 Euronanoforum conference held in Düsseldorf, Germany. The Euronanoforum conference series has been established as the foremost European congress for nanotechnology transfer from research into industrial production processes, products and applications. The conferences provide the opportunity for scientists to meet and discuss nanotechnology issues with leading researchers and managers from industry and finance. The Euronanoforum 2007 was mainly dedicated to the industrial applications of nanotechnology and also addressed the possible precautions related to nanoparticles and safety measures. The focus was to ensure that current scientific findings in nanotechnology would merge into products and applications at an even greater speed, thus creating new sustainable jobs. The proceedings of the meeting were published at http://www.euronanoforum2007.eu/CD/ Online. Press coverage of the meeting ensured that the information was communicated to the general public.