Key Details
The OECD paper, Assessing the Cybersecurity Innovation Frontier Through Measures of Scientific Output and Technological Inventions, uses scientific publications and international patent applications to show where cybersecurity knowledge and inventions are developing.
Measure | Finding |
|---|---|
India’s research position | 21% of global cybersecurity-related publications in 2024, second to China’s 25% |
AI in India’s research | More than 24% of India’s cybersecurity publications in 2020–2024 were also identified as AI-related |
India’s patent specialisation | A 0.28 normalised revealed technology advantage in 2020–2024, among the highest reported |
Global research trend | Cybersecurity reached 1% of scientific publications in 2024, more than twice its share a decade earlier |
Global patent trend | Cybersecurity accounted for about 1.7% of Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) applications in 2024, roughly its share in 2014 |
India Is a Major Contributor to Cybersecurity Research
India and China together accounted for almost half of the cybersecurity-related publications identified by the OECD in 2024. The paper also finds that AI appeared in more than a quarter of India’s cybersecurity research during 2020–2024, above the global share of 19%. This points to a substantial Indian research presence where the two fields meet; a publication containing AI-related work is not, by itself, evidence of an effective security product.
Patent Data Show Specialisation, Not a Simple Research-to-Product Conversion Rate
The OECD identifies India among economies whose relative specialisation in cybersecurity patenting increasedbetween 2010–2014 and 2020–2024. Its specialisation score compares the place of cybersecurity within an economy’s own patent activity with cybersecurity’s place in patenting worldwide. It is not India’s share of all global cybersecurity patents.
Globally, cybersecurity’s share of scientific publications more than doubled over a decade, while its share of PCT patent applications remained broadly steady. The paper cautions against treating that difference as proof that research has failed to become technology: inventions may be kept secret rather than patented, and publication and patenting do not follow a simple one-to-one path.
A New Method Makes the Field Easier to Track
Cybersecurity is difficult to measure because relevant work spans many technologies and changes rapidly. The OECD built an expert-validated vocabulary of 347 phrases in 99 groups, combined it with patent classifications, and applied the method to publication abstracts and patent records. This lets it compare research, patented inventions and their overlap with AI and quantum technologies across countries.
The measures remain partial. They cover identifiable publications and PCT applications, not all cybersecurity activity; the most recent patent figures are also estimated to account for publication delays.
Policy Relevance
India’s strong publication share and rising patent specialisation provide evidence of a growing research and inventive base. They do not show whether Indian organisations can obtain or use these technologies, or whether cyberattacks are becoming less damaging. Those questions require evidence on adoption, performance and security outcomes alongside research and patent indicators.
The OECD’s method offers Indian policymakers a way to monitor which cybersecurity fields are advancing and where AI is entering them. Keeping that picture current will matter because both defenders and attackers can use emerging technologies, while patent and publication data reveal only part of their development.
Follow the Full Paper Here: Assessing the Cybersecurity Innovation Frontier Through Measures of Scientific Output and Technological Inventions