Of those three, quantum computing represented the largest opportunity for Australia, potentially raking in $3.6 billion annually by 2045, the CSIRO said.
This month, the Albanese government called for input into the National Quantum Strategy being developed by the National Quantum Advisory Committee, chaired by Chief Scientist Cathy Foley.
Minister for Industry and Science Ed Husic met with that committee for the first time on Monday, telling members that the report would be used to inform the government how it should spend the $1 billion it has set aside in its National Reconstruction Fund for investing in critical technologies.
When it announced that fund in May, the government said it might be used for any number of technologies, including artificial intelligence, robotics and software development, as well as quantum tech.
But addressing a CSIRO Quantum Commercialisation Forum in Sydney last week, Mr Husic said quantum technology “has been a long-standing interest of mine”, and he was worried Australia might miss the boat with the emerging technology the way it had missed out on classical computing.
“It absolutely burns me when I just recall how there were five countries in the 1940s that built their own computer, and we were one of them and we just gave it all away,” Mr Husic said.
“We didn’t go through to make sure that we could manufacture, develop growth at scale, and it is something, can I tell you, I’m utterly obsessed and focused about, not just in terms of the quantum but the broader thing.”
