Author Description

This is a detailed study of the effects of developments in new materials on industrial strategies in Europe. The study shows how a new information-rich economic system is emerging, based on uncertainty and complexity management. The mechanisms of emergence and of viability of such a system involve new strategies in terms of gathering know-how, management of skills and industrial partnership. The book has five parts: Part I is concerned with a definition of materials, Part II with structural materials and their influence on the reconception of industrial processes. Part II is complemented by Part III which looks at the three main sectors using structural materials (transport, packaging, building and public works). Part IV analyzes functional materials and the way they affect basic components in the technological system (information, energy, biotechnology). Part V makes a strategic analysis for Europe (in the spheres of industrial strategies, the role of the authorities and developments in employment and skills). The economics of new materials makes it possible to reconsider industrial strategies in terms of know-how and information gathering. The authors use these innovations to analyse the emergence of an information-intensive economic system and define some of the mechanisms which play a part in its emergence.