Signal OECD average defence R&D budgets rose 16.1 percent in 2023 as dual-use collaboration grows

Summary

The international-cooperation outlook opens with evidence that science and technology are being securitised as geopolitical tensions rise. Citing OECD data, it reports that the average defence R&D budget across OECD countries grew 16.1 percent in 2023 compared with the previous year. Civil-military research collaboration centred on dual-use technologies is expanding at the same time. The author links these figures to a broader shift in which research agendas are increasingly framed by national and economic security. The figure serves in the essay as an indicator that security considerations are reshaping public research budgets and collaboration patterns. The author adds that US-China conflict is also slowing the growth of international co-research worldwide.