Coonan told the delegation Australia has developed "high-end expertise" in numerous industry sectors, particularly resources.

"Some 60 percent of the world's mining industry software comes from Australia," Coonan said. "Also, to mention a Texas example, an Australian firm, Visean, has just opened an office in Houston. Visean provides real-time data management and visualization solutions for the geoscience and engineering segment of [the] offshore oil and gas industry."

Visean counts global players like Shell, BP, Total, and BHP among its customer and is now developing a strategic partnership with Texas-based oil services company Weatherford.

Coonan also made mention of Medtamic, a provider of clinical information systems to the healthcare industry.

"[Medtamic's] systems are now installed in more than 50 sites worldwide, including North American hospitals in Stanford, Yale, and Chicago," she said, adding the company is also looking to expand into Texas.