Where Has My Money Gone? Government Nanotechnology Funding and the $18
Billion Pair of Pants

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 24, 2006--Cientifica, the world's
leading independent supplier of nanotechnology research and technology
information, in a recently released report "Where Has My Money Gone"
examines the lack of commercial impact of nanotechnologies despite $18
billion of public funding since 1997.


Interviews with government funding agencies and researchers around the
world reveal that many of them have only just begun working on
nanotechnologies while government funding is harder to get at than
imagined. The report reveals that:

-- Global government spending on nanotechnologies totalled 4.8 billion
US dollars in 2005.

-- Japan spends three times as much as a proportion of its gross
domestic product as the United States.

-- Government nanotechnology funding takes an average of two to three
years before it even reaches the lab.

-- Governments have deep pockets but short arms when it comes to
handing out research funds.

-- Much government spending is concentrated on research areas with
little immediate commercial impact.

-- The true impact of nanotechnology will only start to be felt from
2007 onwards.

Commenting on the findings, Cientifica CEO Tim Harper said "Only by
talking to the people at the coal face of nanotechnology, the research
labs, can you get a real idea of what nanotechnology is all about.
These people speak a very different language from that of Wall Street,
and the story that emerges is very different from the hype and over
expectation that we have come to associate with nanotechnology."

The report is available from www.cientifica.com.

About Cientifica

Cientifica is the world's leading independent supplier of research and
technology information, with activities spanning from basic research
through scientific networks to consultancy, business intelligence and
investment appraisals. With offices and representatives around the
globe, Cientifica is the number one choice of anyone looking to see
the big picture about technology.