Papers submitted for consideration will be put through a review process and may require revision by the author. This process began officially with the creation of the Foresight Guidelines for the Development of Molecular Nanotechnology and will likely move forward with policy considerations of the open source development of nanotechnology, as presented by Bryan Bruns . Administrating Nanotechnology Senior Associate Chris Phoenix has been encouraging the readers of Nanodot to consider requirements for the administration of nanotechnology initiatives. This is a key issue for Foresight, and we have been watching his discussion closely. In his discussion, Chris states three reasonable assumptions and then goes on to propose one avenue for regulating nanotechnology.
Limited regulation can slow the development of uncontrollable nanotech.
There are several basic organizational worldviews that tend to use very different methods and goals. Chris is proposing the creation of an organization that has three distinct branches, distinguished by differences in ethical systems. He is using the systems described by Jane Jacobs in her book, Systems of Survival . Not everyone agrees that this type of organization will be effective at managing the regulation of nanotechnology, and we would like to encourage you to join in the discussions on Nanodot and help us identify what form a regulatory body might take. Spring Gathering Approaching As you may expect, our format for this meeting continues to evolve, and we have plans for making this our most productive event yet.