Convergence of General Purpose Technologies

This project has recently been finalised. It was an ARC Linkage Grant Project (LP0349387) by a number of industry partners including DIIRD, IBM Life Sciences and Starpharma. The purpose was to explore the convergence of three general purpose technologies – ICT, biotechnology and nanotechnology.

The study had the following objectives:

• assembling the underlying knowledge base about the development paths of the information technology and biotechnology ‘industries’, about the convergence of technologies and about the emerging applications of nanotechnology;
• an analytical focus on the impact of these new GPTs on the concentration, in specific nations (in particular Australia) and regions, of activities involving the creation and production of the new goods and services that they have spawned;  
• the strategies of firms, and the response options available to them in the context of a detailed comparative analysis of the commercialisation process across the three general purpose technologies;
• understanding the impact of the convergence of the GPTs on the post-secondary education system in Australia, on the process of research and the communication of research results, and on the research management and funding system; and
• the implications for government policy, at both national and regional levels, and with specific reference to Australia.

Click here for the policy report finalized in November 2006 Consistent National Policies for Converging Technologies: Some Preliminary Conclusions. Report authors were Peter Sheehan, John Houghton, Bruce Rasmussen, Kim Sweeny and Greg Tegart.