Brazilian Nanotechnology Initiative

In Brazil there is intense research activity in nanotechnology, most of these developed in universities and research institutes. The Brazilian Nanotechnology Initiative (BNI) aims to integrate government actions to promote the competitiveness of the Brazilian industry. This initiative is founded on support for research and development in the laboratories of the National Laboratories for Nanotechnology (SisNANO), starting from an improvement in infrastructure and opening of laboratories for users of academia and business, promoting interaction and transfer knowledge between academia and business. Country currently has 26 thematic networks of nanotechnology, 16 --Virtual-National Institutes of Technology, seven National- Laboratories and 18 Associate Laboratories, which comprise the SisNANO. Seeking to expand and share governance with other government actors, the Interministries Committee for Nanotechnology was set up, composed of 10 ministries, and has the task of coordinating the entire program of the Federal Government Nanotechnology.Cooperation activities are an important part of BNI. Currently Brazil has cooperation programs with U.S., China, Canada and European Union among others. Recently, Brazil decided to join the European NanoReg program where 60 research groups are joining efforts to provide protocols and standards that can help regulatory agencies and governments.