[Tomgs]

Well I don't think this should be a big priority because there are already many ways to get technology from other empires. Its real easy to do, there are many ways to capture ships for instance (at least 3 that I know of) and you can also trade for ships or technology. You can use diplomatic means (gifts or tribute) or Intell to get technology and when an empire surrenders to you you can get a lot of technology at once if you and they were researching different branches.