A CSIRO team has set out future growth fields for university and VET leaders who wonder where next generation international EFTS (plus local students) will come from. Their Sunrise Industries report identifies seven industries which will generate growth. And while the report does not address labour markets, all the sunrise industries will require workers with education and /or training in new skills. The seven are:

AI and autonomous systems: design, construct, implement and operate autonomous systems

Financial and regulatory services tech: digitally enabled products and services

High value nutrition: “healthy, traceable and trustworthy food products”

Next gen energy storage and distribution: batteries, clean energy

Cyber-physical systems security: systems with “intertwined” physical and software components to address hacking

Personal health and ageing: for example, wearable devices, mobile telehealth

Digital infrastructure and connectivity: to respond to connectivity need

CSIRO also suggests two ways ASEAN nations can grow new industries, “build architecture and remove barriers,” is one. The other is a strategy which education exporting Australia should deplore; “picking a winner’ – choosing an emerging industry that is strategically suited to a given context and investing heavily in its development.”