In the peace week, six opinion leaders make statements on Nanotechnology, peace and development cooperation in the framework of the Dutch public dialogue on nanotechnology. Their film portraits of five minutes each have just been published in Dutch and English on Vimeo:
http://www.vimeo.com/nanorechtenvrede.

Major General (ret) Kees Homan (Institute Clingendael) warns that nanotechnology may contribute to autonomous military robots that could start killing people on future battlefields. Ineke Malsch
(Malsch TechnoValuation) pleads for dialogue between researchers, defence circles and peace movement on these and other military applications of nanotechnology. Both will participate in the conference on nanotechnology, peace and security, Friday 24 September 2010 in The Hague,
The Netherlands.

In the week of the international poverty summit of the United Nations, Prof. Dr. Wim Sinke (ECN Solar Energy and Utrecht University) and Dr Bas Hofs (KWR Water Cycle Research Institute) see chances of nanotechnology for poor people in developing countries through applications in cheap solar cells and water purification. Prof Dr Vinod Subramaniam (University Twente) is confident that researchers in developing countries are very capable of developing new products and systems as solutions for tropical diseases and other problems typical for their own society. International Research cooperation between Dutch researchers and their peers in developing countries and emerging economies may play a role in this. Ms. Nupur Chowdhury (University Twente) pleads for strengthening international regulations for nanotechnology and thinks a civil society may contribute positively to this.

The six film portraits are part of the project Nanorecht en Vrede (Nano Rights and Peace), supported by Nanopodium, www.nanopodium.nl. The results of the project will be reported to the Committee Societal Dialogue Nanotechnology. This Committee will report to the Dutch government about the outcomes of the dialogue by end of 2010.

Note for the media:

Please contact the producer for versions in other formats: www.losimagos.nl.

Posted on behalf of Ineke Malsch