ASPI’s two-decade Critical Technology Tracker

Global and country findings

China’s lead continues to grow
China significantly strengthened its standing in the middle of the last decade
The US is losing the strong historical advantage that it has built
China has built up potential monopoly positions in scientific expertise and top performing institutions
India accelerates: India now ranks in the top 5 countries for 45 of 64 technologies
The UK ranks in the top 5 countries for 36 technologies—a decline from 44 technologies in last year’s results
The European Union, as a whole, is a competitive technological player
Germany is the top-performing European Union country
South Korea’s performance shows that Japan has work to do
Iran excels at defence-sensitive technologies
Australia has improved in some technologies and slipped in others
AUKUS—the trilateral security and technology partnership involving the US, the UK and Australia28—closes the gap in some Pillar 2–relevant technologies, but not all

Technology monopoly risk metric results

Scientific breakthroughs and research innovations in key defence technologies are increasingly likely to occur in China:
China’s research lead in advanced materials and manufacturing technologies grows

Institutional findings: US tech companies, government agencies and CAS

Private-sector research is increasingly concentrated in US technology giants
Private sector research was more diverse between 2003-2007
The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) is the global science and research powerhouse
Government agencies and national laboratories feature prominently
Chinese companies play a relatively small role in the global research ecosystem