Russia, last week, announced the formation of a national nanotechnology network. From the news item on Nanowerk,

The largest state universities and research centers will be integrated into a countrywide nanotechnology network, whose members will receive access to information about one another’s research developments and facilities.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin signed an order in late April creating the National Nanotechnology Network, which was published Wednesday on the government’s web site.

An Education and Science Ministry official said the network was created as part of the federal targeted program on developing the nano-industry fr om 2008 to 2010. Fifty research centers (such as the Kurchatov Institute) and universities (including Moscow State University and the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology) that the state already provides with equipment needed for nano-research will automatically become members of the network, known by its Russian acronym NNS.

Once the Education and Science Ministry develops criteria for NNS participants, any qualifying organization will be able to join, the source told Vedomosti.

The ministry official stressed that the network’s creation would not reduce the importance of Rusnano. The state corporation works on commercializing ideas, whereas the NNS has the much broader task of uniting all participants in the innovation process, from scientists to entrepreneurs.

The NNS is being created to form a competitive research sector in nanotechnology and an effective system to commercialize that know-how, the government’s order says. The network’s goal is to boost the volume of nano-production and create an entry point for Russian companies onto the global market.

It’s interesting to note that this development is in addition to the RUSNANO commercialization initiative.