Balancing the resilience and innovation of Quad critical technology supply chains
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In this paper, Akira Igata talks about why the Quad countries must increase the resilience of critical technology supply chains while maintaining innovation. He adds that the Quad countries must also de-risk from countries that have a record of engaging in economic coercion while preventing the spread of protectionism disguised as ‘increasing resiliency’ or ‘de-risking’.
Key points
- The primary challenge for Quad countries is to increase the resilience of critical technology supply chains while maintaining innovation.
- Quad countries must de-risk from countries that have a record of engaging in economic coercion and using technology to undermine the fundamental values contained in the ‘Quad Principles on Technology Design, Development, Governance, and Use’.
- At the same time, the Quad should prevent the spread of protectionism disguised as ‘increasing resiliency’ or ‘de-risking’.
Policy recommendations
Quad countries should:
- Cooperate internally on: (i) subsidies for developing critical and emerging technologies; (ii) Memoranda of Understanding (MOU)s or Memoranda of Cooperation (MOCs) to promote joint research; and (iii) immigration schemes to facilitate the flow of trusted critical technology students and researchers within the Quad.
- Coordinate to: (i) streamline the numerous mini-laterals on critical technology supply chains; and (ii) harmonise rules and information sharing on visas, export controls, investment screening, and cyber security.
- Reach a common understanding on how to prevent Quad cooperation and coordination leading to an unnecessarily protectionist ‘reshoring everything’.
- Undertake external initiatives such as: (i) hosting a supply chain transparency tech expo; and (ii) Quad resilience capacity-building programs.
About the series
This paper has been written for the Quad Tech Network Dialogue, as part of the Quad Tech Network (QTN) initiative. QTN is an initiative of the NSC, delivered with support from the Australian Government. It aims to establish and deepen academic and official networks linking the Quad nations – Australia, India, Japan, and the United States – in relation to the most pressing technology issues affecting the future security and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific.
