Husanjot Chahal and Ngor Luong are research analysts at Georgetown University's Center for Security and Emerging Technology.
When Joe Biden hosted the leaders of the other Quad nations in Washington in late September -- Japan, India and Australia -- one of the key statements to come out of the summit dealt specifically with technology design, development, governance and use.
Technology cooperation is at the core of the Quad's agenda: a shared commitment to ensuring "an open, accessible and secure technology ecosystem" in the Indo-Pacific region.
The prospects for success will depend to a great extent on making collaboration within the Quad truly quadrilateral, not only between the U.S. and each of its three Indo-Pacific allies, but all four nations sharing with each other.
Collaboration on emerging technologies is a natural fit for the Quad, with each member possessing unique strengths, such as India's massive tech talent pool and Australia's robust high-skilled workforce and highly developed digital economy. Japan is a global leader in robotics, automation and the commercialization of tech breakthroughs, while the U.S. is committing substantial resources to a broad range of initiatives.
With them bound together by a shared interest in ensuring that next-generation technologies such as artificial intelligence, biotechnology and semiconductors are developed and used in line with democratic values and universal human rights, China's malicious use of emerging technologies for surveillance, censorship and disinformation demands a coordinated response.
But while Australia, India and Japan share a democratic outlook and support for a rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific, technological collaboration between the three countries is a relatively recent development and remains limited.
When it comes to AI, a forthcoming report by the Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET) says metrics such as AI research publications, patents for AI-related inventions and investment flows into AI companies show that Australia, India and Japan all have close ties to the United States, but little contact with one another.
For instance, our research shows that AI researchers in Australia, India and Japan collaborated with American scholars in at least 20% of their respective AI research publications, but collaboration rates with each other never exceeded 4%.
Right now, these gaps in collaboration between Australia, Japan and India are a missed opportunity. Each of the Quad nations has comparative advantages in developing cutting-edge technologies, and closer linkages between all members will help ensure that the quadrilateral grouping meets its full potential.
Furthermore, Australia, India and Japan are leading democracies positioned in the Indo-Pacific region with a clear view of regional interests. Strengthening ties between this regional trio is important for both representing the diverse interests across this massive region and coordinating a regional response to an increasingly assertive China.
Finally, maintaining two-way relationships that rely only on Washington may risk undermining the multinational effort that is the Quad, potentially resulting in lost opportunities, slower growth, fewer channels of communication and a weaker grouping overall with individual members not fulfilling their status as equal partners.
With each of the Quad nations enjoying comparative advantages in developing cutting-edge technologies, closer linkages would help the grouping meet its full potential. © Reuters Moving forward, there are several areas where Australia, India and Japan can work to boost their tech partnership. Tokyo is investing massive amounts of capital to entice its technology firms to diversify from China in a bid to secure its supply chains and reduce dependence on manufacturing in China.
In this context, Australia's high-skilled workforce economy and India's vibrant startup ecosystem offer several opportunities for Japanese industry players to relocate out of China. Australia and India will need to do more to attract Japan's investors and industries.
More specifically, there is a need to amend regulations and trade dispute settlement mechanisms, simplify international data flow rules and improve preferential investment policies. While progress won't happen overnight, such efforts could help strengthen ties between the three nations as well as rebalance Japanese investments away from China and toward Australia and India.
There is also significant potential in boosting research collaborations and academic ties between Australia, India and Japan.
While India has a vast science and technology research community, its scholars tend to produce research more independently and, except for the U.S., Indian researchers rarely collaborate with other international scholars. If this trend persists, it could undermine the quality and impact of India's research.
Australia and Japan, on the other hand, have relatively high levels of international research collaboration, especially with China. But in recent years, Australia and Japan have become increasingly concerned about their scholars' research and academic ties to China given the Chinese government's military-civil fusion strategy and the potential for illicit influence and espionage in dual-use tech research.
While barriers remain, including data-sharing challenges and visa and funding restrictions, promoting research collaboration between Australian, Indian and Japanese scientists can help diversify perspectives and strengthen science and technology for all three countries -- and, ultimately, provide a durable foundation for the Quad as it tackles technology challenges.
A dynamic Quad partnership capable of living up to the vision outlined during the recent summit is one that leverages increased technological cooperation among all four countries to bolster each country's individual position as a global technology leader.
The U.S. may already enjoy close ties with Australia, India and Japan, but those three Indo-Pacific nations can and should pursue opportunities to work more closely with one another.