What do Netflix, Fusion Energy, Social Media scrolling, chemical synthesis and cardiovascular medicine have in common? The answer is Photonics, and this hidden economy is set to boom.

Photonics 101: Photonics is the technology behind the generation and control of light. Despite a vast number of applications in high-tech hardware, healthcare, agriculture, and more, it is still thought of as a relatively new technology. However, the recent pandemic has brought Photonics into the spotlight, with Zoom classes and meetings, Netflix and entertainment, medical equipment and Covid detection all dependent on photonics.

The Global Photonics Opportunity

While the current applications of photonics are immense, the future potential of the technology is even greater. Photonics will power the development of new communications technologies, new healthcare devices, high productivity manufacturing systems, and new sensing systems – and this is just what we can predict now. The global economy depends on advances in photonics technology to shrink distances and improve productivity in key industries including agriculture, manufacturing, mining, and healthcare.

Independent international analysis has identified that ten major photonics-enabled market segments, with a combined global market value of US$1.8 trillion, underpin more than 11% of the global economy. This value is growing at a significant rate. The relatively recent recognition of the opportunities available in this sector by venture capital companies will enable a rapid expansion of the photonics sector within the next decade. Globally, governments have promised over $4 billion in additional funding.

New Zealand Photonics

New Zealand’s photonics sector is a $1.2 billion industry of around 121 companies that employ roughly 2500 people. The sector has potential for exponential growth and is already estimated to be growing at over 10% a year. Increased venture capital funding for new enterprises and the diffusion of staff from successful photonics companies into new companies is fuelling this growth.

Rather than concentrating on the manufacture of photonic components, the local photonics sector focuses on developing products and services enabled by photonic technologies. Companies seek to leverage photonics to support local industries. New Zealand depends on agriculture as its largest export sector, and accordingly many companies have developed to either service this sector or use it to develop photonics-based instruments in the agritech sector. Other companies utilise photonic sensors in a range of applications in the medical, environmental monitoring and construction industries.

The Kiwi Competitive Advantage

New Zealand has a worldwide reputation in quantum optics, photonics, and precision atomic physics. Our fledgling photonics industry is largely built and supported by world-class educational institutions. The rapid growth and great reputation of our photonics sector has been the result of substantial research revenue invested by these tertiary institutions. The number of published papers here per head of population in the area of optics and photonics is larger than in most economically developed countries. Decades of world-leading research in the realm of photonics, quantum optics, and precision atomic physics have developed New Zealand’s exceptional resources for technological innovation.

Many small companies are grown through graduates of local universities specialising in photonics, resulting in an industry characterised by many small to medium sized enterprises. These small companies are sources of innovation, responsive to customer requirements, and serve niche markets that the larger companies ignore. New Zealand is ideal for the development of new companies, utilising the skills of graduate students trained in world class photonics research laboratories.