The news: China is the leader when it comes to high-impact technological research as technologies that the US had dominance over in early stages has been overtaken, according to new research by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI).
The numbers: ASPI’s latest Critical Technology Tracker found China led in 66 out of 74 technologies covered by the tracker while the US leads in the remaining eight.
Four of the technologies China leads in — cloud and edge computing, computer vision, generative AI and grid integration technologies — carried a high technology monopoly risk rating reflecting substantial concentration.
ASPI said the imbalance of leaders underscored why “trusted partners need to act together to leverage comparative advantages, reduce concentration risk and shape the trajectory of critical technologies together”.
“The historical data for these new technologies tell a familiar story: an early and often overwhelming US lead in the opening decade of this millennium, eroded and then outmatched by persistent long-term Chinese investment in fundamental research,” ASPI said.
Australia was included in the global top five countries in research effort in seven technologies, including cloud and edge computing, distributed ledgers, protective cyber security technologies, additive manufacturing, adversarial AI, neuroprosthetics and hydrogen and ammonia for power.
However, it lost its top five ranking in critical minerals processing, electric batteries and advanced protection.
When viewed as a bloc, the European Union led in four technologies, including extended reality, small satellites, geoengineering and gravitational-force sensors. This is the only major bloc to break China and the US’ dominance.
China also dominated when it came to research institutions with the Chinese Academy of Sciences remaining the “world’s premier technological research institution” as it ranked first in 31 technologies; and Tsinghua University remained the top-ranked university globally as it placed first in five technologies.
However, the US continued to employ the largest share of top tech talent, followed by China and the EU.
What they said: “Governments around the world need to step up investment in research and technology to avoid future strategic dependencies, particularly as one country more than any other continues to outpace the field across a widening set of critical domains,” ASPI said.
“The trajectory of research leadership has remained remarkably stable over the past two years, indicating that incremental or marginal policy adjustments are insufficient to shift the balance.”
The source: ASPI Critical Technology Tracker
