6 ‘priority technologies’ to help secure US economic interests

The global technological leadership of the United States is no longer assured in a world that has been upended by geopolitical rivalries, supply chain vulnerabilities, and energy threats.

A new book edited by MIT professor of the practice Elisabeth B. Reynolds, with a foreword by MIT Sloan School of Management professor Simon Johnson, calls for domestic investment in six priority technologies: critical minerals, semiconductors, drones, biomanufacturing, quantum computing, and advanced manufacturing. Each chapter was written by an MIT expert in the field. 

In the following excerpt from the introduction to “Priority Technologies: Ensuring US Security and Shared Prosperity,” Reynolds lays out the strategic stakes, the logic behind the book’s six focus areas, and some of the common themes across the chapters.

In the 20th century, the United States led the world technologically and benefited economically, militarily, and socially from the positive spillovers that came with that leadership. 

From airplanes to microchips, nuclear energy to biotechnology, and the internet to GPS, a wide range of inventions and innovations has driven the U.S. economy and positioned the country as the global leader in industries important to its overall security. 

Today, however, the country’s global technological leadership is no longer assured and is in fact slipping, challenged primarily by China. At the same time, U.S. national and economic security interests are being threatened by geopolitical rivalries, supply chain vulnerabilities, and energy security concerns, among other challenges. 

A changing economic world order is emerging — more multipolar, fragmented, and protected — that is prompting new strategies in the United States to secure technological leadership and advantage in key industries. The essays in “Priority Technologies” outline strategies and pathways forward to help the country regain its edge and achieve a more secure and prosperous future. 

“Priority technologies” refers to those technologies where the development of scientific and technological capabilities is considered strategically important for the country’s national security. The definition of the latter has expanded over time beyond military threats from other states and national defense to include economic security to advance economic growth and prosperity and protect the economy from threats such as the disruption of key supply chains or the loss of critical advanced technological capabilities. 

Increasingly, national and economic security have merged such that, as many suggest, it is hard to know where an economic interest ends and a national security interest begins. For example, recent efforts to build up U.S. domestic production of semiconductors in the face of supply chain vulnerabilities were driven by both their importance to the national defense and their role in key industries like automotive, where a shortage of semiconductors in 2021 due to the global pandemic contributed directly to a rise in auto prices and increased inflation.

The six technology areas discussed in the book are by no means exhaustive. For example, nuclear energy or artificial intelligence, both of which are addressed by MIT researchers elsewhere, could easily have been included. 

The technologies we focus on have instead emerged through discussions at MIT that aligned perspectives on the urgent technological opportunities and challenges facing the United States with work being conducted by MIT researchers.

The chapters speak to strategies that both advance technology and grow globally competitive industries. The former might require a focus, for example, on scientific research or technology transfer, while the latter might involve accelerating technology adoption, strengthening supply chains, and expanding the talent pipeline. Regardless, these strategies go hand in hand.

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A number of cross-cutting themes emerge across the chapters. One of the most important is education and workforce development. The United States faces a fundamental challenge: a shortage of trained workers at every education level across these technology sectors. Multiple converging trends are creating a long-term demographic challenge. The rising ratio of retirees to working-age adults, falling fertility and labor participation rates, and radically reduced immigration are constraining the U.S. labor supply and will for years to come. AI’s impact on the U.S. labor force remains uncertain, but it will affect every industry discussed in this volume.

Several other cross-cutting themes emerge as well including supply chain resilience; manufacturing capabilities and capacity; scale-up finance and demand-side strategies; and research and development.  

The following summarizes each of the chapters: 

1. In “Critical Minerals: Diversifying Supply Chains to Drive Resilience and Innovation,” Elsa A. Olivetti underscores a fundamental challenge for U.S. industrial strategy: the nation’s overwhelming dependence on foreign — particularly Chinese — sources for materials essential to advanced manufacturing, clean energy, and national defense.
2. In “Semiconductors: Rebuilding the US Semiconductor Ecosystem for Sustained Global Leadership,” Jesús A. del Alamo writes that semiconductors are “the oxygen of modern human society.” He examines how a critical technology’s migration of manufacturing capacity overseas can create profound national security vulnerabilities and outlines recent steps by the federal government to address them.
3. In “Biomanufacturing: Transforming US Capabilities and Capacity to Accelerate the Domestic Bioeconomy,” J. Christopher Love reveals a striking paradox at the heart of America’s ambitions for the bioeconomy: While the United States still leads globally in biotechnological innovations, it fundamentally lacks the manufacturing infrastructure to capitalize on a sector that is poised to generate over $4 trillion of value worldwide in the coming decade.
4. In “Quantum Computing: Enabling Long-Term US Leadership Through a Sustained and Bold Science and Engineering Agenda,” William D. Oliver and MIT Sloan senior lecturer Jonathan Ruane outline the current quantum computing landscape, which has profound implications for national security and economic competitiveness.
5. In “Drones: Advancing US Innovation in Autonomy and Opportunities for Reindustrialization,” MIT Sloan professor Fiona E. Murray examines a set of connected technologies and capabilities where American innovation is currently constrained by limited domestic manufacturing capacity and supply chains.
6. Finally, in “Advanced Manufacturing: Driving the Next Industrial Revolution,” Elisabeth B. Reynolds discusses how advanced manufacturing undergirds the country’s national security, economic competitiveness, and technological leadership. She highlights how digital technologies — from AI and robotics to additive manufacturing — are reshaping production systems and helping to address critical vulnerabilities exposed by recent supply chain disruptions, geopolitical tensions, and energy demands. 

Excerpted from “Priority Technologies: Ensuring US Security and Shared Prosperity” edited by Elisabeth B. Reynolds. Reprinted with permission from The MIT Press. Copyright 2026.

Elisabeth B. Reynolds is a professor of the practice in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at MIT focused on systems of innovation, manufacturing, and industrial competitiveness in the context of national and regional economic development. Her recent research and policy work has focused on growing innovative companies to scale, digital technology adoption, and industrial decarbonization.

She previously served as special assistant to the president for manufacturing and economic development at the National Economic Council in 2021 – 2022, as well as executive director of the MIT Task Force on the Work of the Future and the MIT Industrial Performance Center from 2010 – 2021.