Australia aims to protect, promote critical technologies

By ROD McGUIRK
Associated Press

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced a plan to protect and promote technologies critical to the country’s national interest, in a challenge to China’s emerging dominance in key strategic fields. Morrison told a virtual conference the initial focus will be on nine critical technologies on a list of 63. The top nine include quantum technologies that apply quantum physics to access, transmit and process vast quantities of information. Morrison said the technologies have major defense applications including enabling navigation where global positioning systems don’t work and helping protect Australia from advanced cyber attacks. Chinese physicists said last month they had developed the world’s fastest programmable quantum computing system.