ASPI’s Critical Technology Tracker expands to include patent data

ASPI has expanded its globally recognised Critical Technology Tracker to include a new patent-analysis capability, introducing patent-based rankings across more than 20 of the 74 critical technologies tracked.

Developed by ASPI’s Cyber, Technology and Security Program, the Critical Technology Tracker (CTT) maps global research performance across emerging technologies that are reshaping national security, economic resilience and global strategic advantage. Since its most recent update in June 2026, the CTT has shown that China leads in 69 of 74 tracked technologies – a signal of a structural shift in global technological power.

The Critical Technology Tracker maps global research performance across critical technologies spanning defence, space, AI, biotechnology, cyber, advanced materials, energy and quantum. Its publication-based rankings focus on the top 10 percent of the most highly cited research papers, drawing on Web of Science, ORCID and the Research Organization Registry. The new patent-analysis capability adds patent filings, grants and quality-patent data across more than 20 of those technologies, with two decades of historical data to help users compare performance over time.

The latest CTT update, launched today, introduces several new analytical features.

•         New patent-analysis capability: new methodologies for analysing patent data across 20-plus critical technologies.
•         Head-to-head country comparisons: these compare countries’ performance in patent filings, granted patents and quality patents across technology categories.
•         New quality-patent metrics: these assess patent quality to better understand countries’ technological innovation and competitive position.
•         Two decades of historical data: these examine recent and historical performance within each technology category.
•         Category-level visuals: these explore high-level insights across broad technology groupings at a glance.

The addition of patent data strengthens the tracker’s value as a predictive tool.   Today’s research is potentially tomorrow’s capability. Countries’ research efforts are therefore strong indicators of their strategic priorities. Iranian research, for example, has long pointed to the development of the strike drones that have been lighting up air defences across the Gulf in its war with the United States and Israel – an investment that the CTT highlighted long before the conflict.

Patents are similarly indicative, revealing which countries are leading in patent activity and securing intellectual property protection for technological inventions. Together, these two views provide a broader picture of technological leadership, from research performance to the development and protection of new technologies.

As technological competition intensifies, policymakers, investors and institutional leaders need reliable data to understand where technological capabilities are concentrated and how countries are positioning themselves for future advantage. Patent data complements citation-based rankings by providing additional insight into innovation activity and intellectual property, helping users identify emerging competitive shifts.

The CTT is an ongoing project. At its launch in March 2023, it tracked global research output and quality on 44 critical technologies over a five-year period (from 2018 to 2022). It has since expanded to include 20 years’ worth of data and 74 technologies to adapt to a constantly evolving technological and security environment.

Alongside ASPI’s China Defence Universities Tracker, the CTT provides a data-driven view of how research performance translates into strategic power. A new addition to the suite, the China Little Giants Tracker – mapping more than 19,000 Chinese companies designated as national technology leaders – is also available.

To learn more about the Critical Tech Tracker and get access, click .