Governments and industry alike now recognise that nanotechnology has incredible potential. The first commercial applications are likely to be developed by research departments of universities - working in partnership with industry.  
 
The UK's Department of Trade and Industry's (DTI) report Micro/Nanotechnology in the UK - Bridging the Technology Transfer Gap, makes clear:  
 
"Micro/Nanotechnology research requires very expensive equipment, specialist scientific knowledge and expertise, all of which reside in UK universities, particularly in areas such as silicon and compound semiconductor fabrication, e-beam lithography and electron microscopy." 
 
The brochure, Leading the way in Nano and Micro Systems technologies (Adobe Acrobat Reader Document - 115.05kb) provides more information.