GINC Critical Technology
Capability group

Connectivity, Cyber & Trust Technologies

The capacity to carry, secure and trust information: the optical and wireless frontier, the networks that survive infrastructure loss, the technologies that defend systems and data, and the technologies that establish digital trust.

Domain
Critical Technology · Hard Power
Identifier
factbase.org/cpg/PSFVFK6X07
Capabilities
5

Bounds. Holds communications, cyber and trust technology as national capacity; the deployed networks belong to Strategic Infrastructure's Communications & Digital Infrastructure, cyber and electromagnetic operations to National Security with the technology base held here, and standards position reads at the control layer with the diplomacy of standards in the influence domain.

Capabilities

Advanced Optical Communication & PhotonicsRS01993T07The capacity to advance optical communication and photonics, fibre systems, free-space optics and the photonic components that set the speed and capacity of networks.Research21.7k papers +1%China 23%Patents76.5k families +24%China 61%Advanced Wireless CommunicationQRYJVA801ZThe capacity to lead in advanced wireless, current and next-generation mobile systems, non-terrestrial networks and the radio technologies and standards positions that shape them.Research3.2k papers −13%China 24%Patents312.2k families +32%China 56%Resilient & Infrastructure-Independent NetworksQ2BGP4XP0SThe capacity to communicate when infrastructure fails or is denied: mesh and self-organising networks, undersea and hostile-environment communication, and links that need no fixed network.Research14k papers −33%India 21%Patents13.6k families −6%China 68%Protective Cybersecurity Technologies4MZ9YZKS2JThe capacity to develop the technologies that protect systems and data, defensive tooling, secure architectures, detection and response technology, and the security engineering beneath them.Research7.1k papers +105%India 18%Patents216k families +74%China 71%Privacy, Identity & Trust TechnologiesNQRD0HNM08The capacity to establish digital trust: privacy-enhancing technologies, digital identity, cryptographic and distributed systems of record, and the technologies that let strangers transact and states verify.Research58.4k papers +325%China 19%Patents166.7k families +43%China 65%

The capabilities compared

Papers and patent families, 2020–2024, with growth on the five years before and the leading nation in each.

CapabilityPapersGrowthResearch leaderFamiliesGrowthPatent leader
Advanced Optical Communication & Photonics21.7k+1%China 23%76.5k+24%China 61%
Advanced Wireless Communication3.2k−13%China 24%312.2k+32%China 56%
Resilient & Infrastructure-Independent Networks14k−33%India 21%13.6k−6%China 68%
Protective Cybersecurity Technologies7.1k+105%India 18%216k+74%China 71%
Privacy, Identity & Trust Technologies58.4k+325%China 19%166.7k+43%China 65%

Research across the group

Papers by year for each capability, and the nations' shares of the group's papers, 2020–2024. A capability that shares a v0.0 topic with another counts it in both.

  1. 1China17.5%18,309 papers
  2. 2India13.5%14,095 papers
  3. 3United States8.0%8,401 papers
  4. 4United Kingdom3.8%3,943 papers
  5. 5Saudi Arabia2.2%2,264 papers
  6. 6Canada2.1%2,212 papers
  7. 7Italy2.0%2,112 papers
  8. 8Germany1.9%1,935 papers
  9. 9South Korea1.8%1,892 papers
  10. 10Australia1.6%1,690 papers

Patents across the group

Patent families by priority year for each capability, and the origin nations' shares of the group's families, 2020–2024. A family in two capabilities' classes counts in both.

  1. 1China62.6%491,277 families
  2. 2United States14.7%115,559 families
  3. 3South Korea7.5%59,058 families
  4. 4Japan5.7%44,373 families
  5. 5Germany1.6%12,209 families
  6. 6Finland1.2%9,313 families
  7. 7Sweden1.1%8,777 families
  8. 8Taiwan1.0%7,838 families
  9. 9France0.7%5,574 families
  10. 10Singapore0.5%3,854 families

Companies

220 companies in Connectivity, Cyber & Trust Technologies, across 8 regions. The leading 12:

  1. 1HuaweiWorld's largest RAN vendor and the top holder of 5G standard-essential patents, leading 3GPP contributions and 5G-Advanced/6G research.Manufacture
  2. 2L3Harris TechnologiesLargest supplier of tactical radios and mesh-capable waveforms (AN/PRC-163/167 Falcon IV, TSM/ANW2), the backbone of US and allied infrastructure-independent tactical networks.Manufacture
  3. 3MicrosoftLargest security vendor by revenue, with Defender (XDR/endpoint), Sentinel (SIEM), Entra (identity) and Purview, and among the top international patent applicants in this field.Design
  4. 4Coherent Corp.Former II-VI/Finisar; one of the largest makers of datacom and telecom optical transceivers, lasers, InP and VCSEL chips, and wavelength-selective switches.Manufacture
  5. 5Palo Alto NetworksLargest pure-play cybersecurity firm (next-generation firewalls, Prisma SASE, Cortex XSIAM, Unit 42); it completed its $25bn acquisition of Israel's CyberArk (identity security) in February 2026.Design
  6. 6QualcommLeading designer of 4G/5G modems and RF front-end chips (Snapdragon X series) and one of the largest licensors of cellular standard-essential patents.Design
  7. 7SpaceXOperates Starlink, the largest LEO constellation, with laser inter-satellite links and direct-to-cell service that provide connectivity independent of terrestrial infrastructure, proven in Ukraine and disasters.Operation
  8. 8ThalesThrough the former Gemalto, Thales is a top supplier of SIM/eSIM, payment and ID cards, ePassports, hardware security modules (Luna HSM) and the CipherTrust encryption and key-management platform.Manufacture
  9. 9CienaLeading coherent optical networking vendor outside China; its WaveLogic 6 modems were the first to reach 1.6 Tb/s per wavelength.Design
  10. 10CrowdStrikeMarket leader in cloud-delivered endpoint detection and response through its Falcon platform, which has expanded into cloud, identity and next-gen SIEM.Design
  11. 11EricssonLeading Western 5G RAN and core vendor and major SEP holder, central to 3GPP standardisation and 6G research.Manufacture
  12. 12IDEMIALeading biometric identity firm (formed from Oberthur Technologies and Safran Morpho) whose IDEMIA Public Security biometrics and secure transactions businesses serve border, police and national ID programmes worldwide; its Smart Identity unit was sold to IN Groupe in 2024.Integration
All 220 in the Companies table →