What are critical technologies?
As we move into the fourth industrial revolution and a changing geostrategic landscape the likes of which haven’t been seen since World War II, global society is again forging a new path. Whilst resources and labour have been the currency of previous era, now it is advanced technology. The ubiquity of most forms of technology mitigates some of the competitive advantage enjoyed by nations and businesses, with the exception of new or niche technology that addresses the needs of 21st century society. In Australia, this class of technology is now referred to as ‘critical technologies‘.
The Australian Government has defined critical technologies as being those which have been identified as “having a significant impact on our national interest (economic prosperity, national security and social cohesion)“, which the Australian Government has set as its baseline. Whilst some technologies on the list have implications for defence and security, the Action Plan acknowledges these technologies often have broader applications (i.e. they are what is referred to as ‘dual use’ goods or technologies).
Key terms used in the policy documents
- Critical technologies – Current and emerging technologies that have the capacity to significantly enhance or pose a risk to our national interest (prosperity, social cohesion or national security).
- Emerging technology – Technologies that are currently developing, or that are expected to be available within the next five to ten years
Critical technologies are exposed to some unique risks
Many of the risks associated with critical technologies have been widely publicised in recent years, ranging from efforts by the US Government to purchase more rare earth resources after a buying spree by the Chinese government (see Scheyder, 2022), through to methods of Intellectual Property theft occurring under the guise of technology transfer (see my previous post). However, it’s worth recapping the key critical technologies risks as listed in the Blueprint:
- Lack of competitive and diverse markets
- Highly geographically concentrated supply chains
- Critical infrastructure interdependencies
- Creation of an increased cyber threat surface
- Influence of foreign actors on international technology standards development which may run contrary to Australia’s values and objectives
- Undermining institutional integrity through mis- and dis-information operations
- Exploitation of Australian knowledge – such as through economic espionage or foreign interference
Each of these presents it’s own set of risks which is not purely a problem for government to manage. Industry owns the asset and with limited exception industry is responsible for managing those risks. The challenge for many Australian businesses is that these risks are quite unique in nature, and require a specialist set of skills and knowledge to manage which is not readily found in the Australian market. Stay tuned for Part 2 of this post which will go into these risk management steps in relation to supply chain integrity and security in more detail.
Enter November 2021 and the release of Australia’s Critical Technology Blueprint and Action Plan
When the consultation drafts first came out for critical technology in 2020, my first question was which technologies are we actually referring to. When it comes to risk management, knowing what comprises your critical assets is a pre-requisite to safeguarding them effectively.
With the release of Australia’s Critical Technologies Action Plan by the Critical Technologies Policy Coordination Office (CTPCO), Australia’s critical technologies are now clearly defined. The Action Plan identifies 63 technologies across seven disciplines, each of which broadly aligns to an Industry Sector.
So what are Australia’s Critical Technologies?
- Additive manufacturing (incl. 3D printing)
- Advanced composite materials
- Advanced explosives and energetic materials
- Advanced magnets and superconductors
- Advanced protection
- Coatings
- Continuous flow chemical synthesis
- Critical minerals extraction and processing
- High-specification machining processes
- Nanoscale materials and manufacturing
- Novel metamaterials
- Smart materials
- Advanced data analytics
- Advanced integrated circuit design and fabrication
- Advanced optical communications
- Advanced radiofrequency communications
- Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithsm and hardware accelerators
- Distributed ledgers
- High performance computing
- Machine learning (incl. neural networks and deep learning)
- Natural language processing (incl. speech and text recognition and analysis)
- Protective Cyber Security Technologies
- Biological manufacturing
- Biomaterials
- Genome and genetic sequencing (Next Generation Sequencing)
- Nanobiotechnology
- Nanoscale robotics
- Neural engineering
- Novel antibiotics and antivirals
- Nuclear medicine and radiotherapy
- Synthetic biology
- Vaccines and medical countermeasures
- Biofuels
- Directed energy technologies
- Electric batteries
- Hydrogen and ammonium for power
- Nuclear energy
- Nuclear waste management and recycling
- Photovoltaics
- Supercapacitors
- Post-quantum cryptography
- Quantum computing
- Quantum sensors
- Quantum communications (including quantum key distribution)
- Advanced imaging systems
- Atomic clocks
- Gravitational-force sensors
- Inertial navigation systems
- Minature sensors
- Multispectral and hyperspectral imaging sensors
- Magnetic field sensors
- Photonic sensors
- Radar
- Satellite positioning and navigation
- Scalable and sustainable sensor networks
- Sonar and acoustic sensors
- Advanced aircraft engines (including hypersonics)
- Advanced robotics
- Autonomous systems operation technology
- Small satellites
- Drones, swarming and collective robots
- Space launch systems (incl. launch vehicles and supporting infrastructure)
Many of the risks associated with critical technologies will be managed through existing regulatory frameworks
The Action Plan outlines the policy levers – including economic, national security and diplomatic levers – available to it to manage critical technologies in Australia’s national interest and in accordance with Australian values. The Australian Government has commited to “ensure all actions to protect and promote critical technologies are proportional, targeted and sustainable”.
To this end, the Action Plan presents four policy response categories available when pursuing actions on critical technologies, as shown in the figure below:
The Action Plan also conveniently provides a map of the Australian Government’s “comprehensive suite of recent actions to promote and protect critical technologies across all four policy response categories”:
As you can see, many of Australia’s actions to promote and protect our critical techologies are already in place, meaning the introduction of new regulation or initiatives affecting industry should be minimal. Some of these fall within this scope of what I write on here at ForewarnedBlog.com – follow me for future posts on the Foreign Interference Guidelines, Supply Chain Resilience Initiative, changes to export control regulations and trade compliance (i.e. the Defence & Strategic Goods List), and foreign investment restrictions for critical technology (including what is referred to as Foreign Ownership, Control and Influence or FOCI). Part 2 of this post will focus on one new announcement, the Critical Technology Supply Chain Principles.
Part 2 – Critical Technology Supply Chain Principles
With a good understanding of the policy landscape and assets requiring protection, Part 2 of this post looks at what this means for the protection and integrity of critical technologies, supply chains, IP and products.
Further reading
- Australian Government (2021). Blueprint for Critical Technologies, Critical Technologies Policy Coordination Office, 17 November 2021, https://www.pmc.gov.au/resource-centre/domestic-policy/blueprint-critical-technologies
- Australian Government (2021). The Action Plan for Critical Technologies, Critical Technologies Policy Coordination Office, 17 November 2021, https://www.pmc.gov.au/resource-centre/domestic-policy/action-plan-critical-technologies
- Australian Government (2021). Critical Technology Supply Chain Principles, Department of Home Affairs, https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/cyber-security-subsite/files/critical-technology-supply-chain-principles.pdf
- Curwell, P. (2022). Australia’s Critical Technology and Supply Chain Principles – a new reality for industry (part 2)
- Kuo, M.A, and Tang, A.O. (2015). Asia’s Strategic Landscape: Continuity and Change, The Diplomat, 9 July 2015, https://thediplomat.com/2015/07/asias-strategic-landscape-continuity-and-change/
- Schwab, K. (2016). The Fourth Industrial Revolution: what it means, how to respond, 14 January 2016, World Economic Forum, https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/01/the-fourth-industrial-revolution-what-it-means-and-how-to-respond/
- Scheyder, E. (2022). EXCLUSIVE U.S. bill would block defense contractors from using Chinese rare earths, 15 January 2022, Reuters, https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/exclusive-us-bill-would-block-defense-contractors-using-chinese-rare-earths-2022-01-14/
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