CRITICAL TECHNOLOGIES - PAST AND FUTURE

What drives governments to prioritise technologies and what does a good approach look like?

Governments can play a pivotal role in supporting the advancement of critical technologies. Government interventions increasingly need to be agile and responsive to keep pace with a rapidly evolving global technology landscape. The effective identification and prioritisation of critical technologies can be an important tool in promoting economic growth, societal well-being, national security and achieving long-term sustainability goals.

On 8 July 2024 the Foundation for Science and Technology and the Royal Academy of Engineering held a roundtable discussion on these issues. This paper builds on the discussions at that meeting and examines the UK government’s previous approaches to technology prioritisation over the last decade and explores potential avenues for future prioritisation efforts.