Advanced information and communication technologies (ICT) bring together telecommunications, computers and software. Advanced ICT systems let us process and transfer data at greater speed and volume.
We have updated the data in this list since we first published it in 2021. Find previous datasets in the National Library of Australia’s Trove website archive.
These technologies can be used for:
Australia’s research strengths in critical technologies underpin new economic opportunities and sovereign capabilities.
From 2022 to 2024, Australia’s research trends are consistent across critical technology fields, with advanced ICT seeing a notable increase in publications.
Research quality and research specialisation remained the same from 2022 to 2024. We define quality as the percentage of publications in the top 10% most cited publications in the field. We define specialisation as the ratio of the share of a field in the publications that come from a given country to the share of the same field in the global total of publications.
Australian research publications for advanced information and communication technologies field, 2022–2024.
| 2022 | 2024 | |
|---|---|---|
| Publications | 7647 | 9097 |
Intellectual property (IP) rights are vital to supporting translation of critical technology research outcomes into products, businesses and new capabilities.
Advanced ICT (standard) patent applications nearly doubled from 2017 to 2019 with a slight drop off in 2020 which continued to 2022.
Advanced information and communication technologies (standard) patent applications in Australia, 2017–2022.
| 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | % growth | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Patent applications | 946 | 1209 | 1771 | 1728 | 1613 | 1378 | 45.67 |
Advanced ICT (standard) patent applications by Australian applicants doubled from 2017 to 2021 with a slight decrease in 2022.
Advanced information and communication technologies Australian applicant (standard) patent applications in Australia, 2017–2022.
| 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Patent applications | 57 | 79 | 71 | 86 | 103 | 95 |
Venture capital (VC) investment data can help assess Australia’s critical technology capability. The data acts as a real-time signal of where private investment is supporting innovation.
Overall VC investment in Australian advanced ICT critical technology firms increased in 2024. Global trends underpinned by inflation, economic tension and global conflicts may attribute to falls seen in 2023.
Venture capital investment in Australian advanced information and communication technologies firms, 2014–2024.
| Year | VC investment in $millions |
|---|---|
| 2014 | 14.5 |
| 2015 | 7.36 |
| 2016 | 49.34 |
| 2017 | 55.88 |
| 2018 | 71 |
| 2019 | 177.61 |
| 2020 | 97.63 |
| 2021 | 225.97 |
| 2022 | 442.63 |
| 2023 | 207.21 |
| 2024 | 251.22 |
| Total | 1600.35 |
Australia is well-placed to take advantage of new ICT developments such as 6G.
We need these advanced technologies to:
Smart technologies are already being embedded in the workforce and our physical environments. With the right infrastructure and support, these technologies can make our industries more productive and our businesses more competitive.
CSIRO collected all publication data from Web of Science systems and covers 2022 and 2024.
We sourced all patent data from IP Australia. The data covers 2017 to 2022 for standard patent applications filed in Australia. It does not include innovation patents, following a 2022 review phasing them out. We note innovation filings were on the rise during this period, which led to a spike in the years leading up to ceasing.
DISR collected all VC data in March 2025 using Pitchbook and covers 2014 to 2024.
