New research suggests that the most formidable barrier to commercialising nanotechnology is not the science itself, but rather the way organisations manage the innovation process.
While nanotechnology is heralded as one of the most transformative frontiers of the 21st century, with the potential to revolutionise everything from cancer treatments and clean energy to next-generation electronics, a significant gap remains between laboratory discovery and commercial reality.
Despite a surge in global investment and thousands of registered patents, many promising breakthroughs never progress beyond the laboratory.
The research examining 250 nanotechnology firms across 12 European countries suggests that organisational and collaboration challenges are a major reason why promising discoveries fail to reach the market.
The new study was co-authored by Prof. Nazrul Islam , Chair Professor of Business and Associate Director of Centre of FinTech at the University of East London and an expert in technology governance and innovation management.
Researchers found that companies often struggle to translate research into viable products due to:
- Rigid management structures: Hierarchical systems that stifle the agility required for deep-tech innovation.
- Weak systems of knowledge absorption: An inability to effectively integrate external scientific breakthroughs into internal commercial strategies.
- Overly complex research networks: Partnerships that become too fragmented or difficult to navigate, hindering the "strategy-to-delivery" pipeline.
Professor Islam's research emphasises that for nanotechnology to fulfil its promise, organisations must move beyond a focus on pure science toward strategic governance. By refining how knowledge is absorbed and managed, firms can bridge the "valley of death" between a patented discovery and a real-world product.
Extraordinary breakthroughs
"Nanotechnology is producing extraordinary scientific breakthroughs," said research co-author Professor Islam. "But organisations are often tripping themselves up. The science is moving fast, while the structures that manage innovation are still slow and fragmented."
The research highlights the importance of "absorptive capacity" - a company's ability to apply knowledge from collaborators such as universities and research institutes.
"When companies collaborate on complex technologies like nanotechnology, they need strong internal systems to absorb and use new knowledge," said Professor Islam. "Without that capability, even brilliant discoveries can stall before they become real products."
The research also highlights that collaboration itself can become a barrier. While partnerships are essential in highly specialised fields, firms can experience what researchers describe as "coordination overload".
Bottlenecks and slow decisions
Too many partnerships can lead to slow decision-making, communication bottlenecks and delays in product development.
"Collaboration is vital, but more collaboration is not always better," Professor Islam said. "When organisations become embedded in very dense research networks, the time spent coordinating partners can start to slow innovation rather than accelerate it."
However, the study also identifies ways organisations can improve their chances of successfully commercialising breakthrough technologies.
Solutions identified by the research
The research suggests several organisational practices that significantly improve innovation performance:
- More flexible governance structures that allow research teams to make decisions quickly and experiment more freely.
- Stronger internal capabilities for learning and knowledge integration, enabling firms to absorb and apply external scientific discoveries.
- More strategic management of collaboration networks, ensuring partnerships remain focused and manageable rather than overly complex.
The research also points to broader changes that could help advanced technologies reach the market more successfully including geographic clustering of collaborators and better alignment between research funding and end-product commercialisation.
The future is waiting
"There is a world of amazing technology waiting to be realised," Professor Islam said. "But companies and innovation systems need to organise themselves more effectively if those discoveries are going to reach society."
The researchers say that improving organisational structures and collaboration practices could increase the number of scientific breakthroughs that successfully become real-world technologies.
Bridging micro-macro dynamics in nanotechnology commercialisation: How governance and absorptive capacity shape innovation performanc e, by Nazrul Islam, University of East London, Stanley Gyoshev, University of Exeter Business School, and Daniel Amona, University of Roehampton, is published in Technovation .
