Critical Technologies and RMIT

In November 2021, the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet released the list of critical technologies identified to be in the national interest. 

The list nominates current and emerging technologies that have the potential for significant impact for the Australian national interest. The national interest is taken to include economic prosperity, national security and social cohesion. The report and critical technologies list were the subject of a recent Hat Cupboard post.

The list includes 7 key areas of focus: 

Seven key areas of focus for the critical technologies.  

Each of these areas have been broken down into components and a list of 63 key highlights has been developed. Since the release of the list, in April, a (currently incomplete) set of “Tech Cards” for initial focus topics have been released. For example, these include Advanced composite materials Tech Card and the High Performance Computing Tech Card. These Tech Cards each cover a range of topics, including: Key Australian Government Actions, Example Outcomes & Applications, as well as indicative measures of competitiveness at the national and international level.  

RMIT features in the top 10 Australian universities in several of this initial set of released tech cards. The topics where RMIT University has been recognised as being in the top 10 nationally are shown below. Of course, these external assessments are limited in terms of depth and scope, but they are a good starting point. It is likely that they will need to assessed further to make sure that areas have been correctly identified and that others have not been missed.  

Areas where RMIT University features in the top 10 Australian Universities.

As shown in the graphic above, RMIT has been identified as having leading expertise in multiple crucial cutting-edge areas¹. There is now an opportunity to capture the benefits of RMIT’s position (and similarly for other Australian universities) to ensure that we continue to lead and even grow in these critical technologies. Seizing this opportunity implies long-term strategic capability planning, continuing to invest in world-class expertise, and supporting our existing leaders and leading subject matter experts.  

Such an approach will ensure that we take a leading position in the national agenda, and ensure our capability can be deployed to benefit the broad ecosystem. That way, we can hope to ensure that we are proactive in agenda setting and identifying partners and opportunities. 

The strengths highlighted above alignment also reflects that RMIT’s research—and therefore innovation translation potential—is well aligned to our external partners. Further value may be added by identifying areas of synergy between critical technology areas, and between complementary strengths with other Australian universities. Finally, as well as being a leading technical university, RMIT University also has a deep capability in enterprise and design. This places RMIT in a unique position to be able to support the translation of this research and to capture the high-value potential for the generation of long-term impact.   

List of critical technologies of initial focus  

Critical minerals extraction and processing  

• Advanced explosives and energetic materials 

• Critical minerals extraction and processing 

Advanced Communications (including 5G and 6G)  

• Advanced optical communications 

• Advanced radio frequency communications (incl. 5G and 6G) 

Artificial intelligence Advanced data analytics  

• AI algorithms and hardware accelerators 

• Machine Learning 

• Natural Language Processing 

Cyber security technologies  

• Protective cyber security technologies 

• Machine learning (also in AI) 

Genomics and genetic engineering  

• Genetic engineering 

• Genome and genetic sequencing and analysis (Next Generation Sequencing) 

• Synthetic biology 

Novel antibiotics, antivirals and vaccines  

• Novel antibiotics and antivirals 

• Vaccines and medical countermeasures 

Low emission alternative fuels  

• Biofuels 

• Hydrogen and ammonia for power 

Quantum technologies  

• Post-quantum cryptography 

• Quantum communications (incl. quantum key distribution) 

• Quantum computing 

• Quantum sensors 

Autonomous vehicles, drones, swarming and collaborative robotics 

• Advanced robotics 

• Autonomous systems operation technology 

• Drones, swarming and collaborative robots 

1. What are the limitations of the data? How were the rankings developed? The PMC states the following around the development of the rankings: “Some of the data and rankings included in the tech cards is based on the information available through the Elsevier SciVal database, used widely throughout the international community. There are some known limitations in the data for ranking institutions and the information presented should be considered indicative rather than definitive. The CTPCO is considering the inclusion and presentation of this data as part of the refresh of the list of critical technologies in the national interest due later this year.”