Robots could hold the key to boosting NSW living standards with a new report concluding that each person could be $11,600 richer.
Emerging technologies include everything from robotics and renewable energy to artificial intelligence and semiconductors.
The future-looking report by the Productivity Commission as well as the Innovation Council was released on Tuesday.
It says investing in such technologies could boost Gross State Product (GSP) by an additional 11.8 per cent, which is equivalent to $11,600 per person or $27,400 a household.
However, that tangible financial gain won't be felt until 2035.
But Treasurer Matt Kean said now was the time to plan to transition towards more technologically savvy industries.
It could turbo charge the state's revenue by up to $4.5 billion in the next 13 years.
"NSW, like much of the world, faces a productivity challenge due to declining workforce participation caused by an ageing population and interrupted migration due to COVID-19.
"This is why we need to look at new ways to foster economic growth," he said.
"A suite of emerging technologies could recharge NSW's productivity growth for years to come.
"This improved productivity could deliver additional revenue for the state to invest in new schools, hospitals and other infrastructure".
But the report also pointed to how the digital divide could widen across regional NSW.
It pointed to the closure of BHP's steel manufacturing plant in Newcastle in 1999, where almost 3000 workers lost their jobs at an estimated $1.6 billion cost to the local economy as an example of a town being too reliant on one industry.
The report highlighted how Australia's first fully automated farm, which will be built at Charles Sturt University's AgriPark in Wagga Wagga using robotics and AI, could be the way of the future.
