Funding & Team

About ASPI

The Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) is an independent, non-partisan think tank that produces expert and timely advice for Australian and global leaders. It was established by the Australian Government in 2001 to generate new ideas for policy makers, allowing them to make better-informed decisions. By now, ASPI is a globally leading Indo-Pacific think-tank on issues of defence, national security, cyber and technology. Find out more about our work here. 

The Critical Technology Tracker originated from ASPI’s Cyber, Technology and Security Program.  

The Team

The Mission Lead for the Critical Technology Tracker is Dr Jennifer Wong-Leung. 

ASPI acknowledges the work of former staff, including Dr Jamie Gaida, Danielle Cave, Fergus Hanson, James Corera and Stephan Robin. They all made major, foundational and valuable contributions to this work during their time at ASPI.  

Thank you also to the many governments, multilateral groups, research institutes and other organisations that have engaged with and contributed to this work over the years. We are grateful to the Defence Science and Technology Group at the Australian Department of Defence for sharing material in 2022 that helped inform the development of our database search strategies.

Building on these contributions, ASPI also acknowledges and thanks IP Australia for supporting the development of the expanded Critical Technology Tracker through its expertise in the patent system, patent searching and patent data analysis. IP Australia’s contribution should not be taken as endorsement of the Tracker’s findings, commentary or conclusions, which remain those of ASPI.

Funding

Funding for the first iteration of the Critical Technology Tracker (from 2022-2024) came from the US Department of State, the Special Competitive Studies Project  and the Australian Government. A preceding smaller project on critical technologies funded by Australia’s Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet in 2021 helped to inform the direction and creation of this much larger and more in-depth program of work. 

In 2025, all of ASPI data products transitioned into a subscription-based model, allowing the organisation to assign permanent analytical resources and elevate to even higher-grade product offerings.

Note: Information on this website has been derived from sources reliable and accurate at the time of publication (June 2026). Readers should note that circumstances may change after a document is published, including as a consequence of changes to government policy or industry practice resulting from a document’s publication. The information is provided on the basis that readers are responsible for making their own assessment of the matters contained or discussed on this site.