Mapping the Dual-Use Technology Landscape
- Jordan Clayton
- Mar 8
- 2 min read
The dual-use technology ecosystem is vast, fragmented, and difficult to navigate. It spans commercial and defense markets, touching industries from artificial intelligence and autonomous systems to biotechnology and advanced manufacturing. Yet, despite its significance, dual-use technology is not a single category—it is a strategy. One that enables innovation to scale across national security priorities and commercial applications.
At DualSight, we saw a fundamental problem: there was no structured way to understand or navigate this space. Information was scattered across government databases, private investment networks, and industry silos, making it difficult for founders, investors, and policymakers to make informed decisions.
To bring clarity, structure, and decision enablement to this complex ecosystem, we developed the Dual Tech Taxonomy—a thematic framework that organizes information, companies, funding, enablers, services, technologies, and capabilities into a structured map. This taxonomy serves as the backbone of DualSight, allowing stakeholders to align opportunities, track trends, and identify strategic intersections between commercial and defense markets.
The Methodology Behind the Dual Tech Taxonomy
DualSight’s taxonomy is not just a classification system—it is a decision intelligence framework designed to make sense of dual-use technology by applicability across industries and operational domains.
1. Dual-Use as a Strategy, Not a Category
Rather than treating dual-use as a fixed industry or niche market, we define it as a strategic approach where technologies adapt across civilian and military applications. A company building autonomous robotics, for example, may initially serve industrial logistics before pivoting into defense unmanned systems. A satellite imaging startup may first commercialize in agriculture, then expand into geospatial intelligence for national security.
Because dual-use is fluid, our taxonomy reflects how technologies move across markets rather than confining them to static labels.
2. Organizing by Sector and Domain
To structure this landscape, we mapped dual-use technologies into 10 Sectors and 6 Domains, creating a cohesive framework based on where technologies operate and how they apply across industries:
Sectors define technology verticals, such as AI, Cybersecurity, Aerospace, Sensors, and Energy & Propulsion. These are thematic groupings based on innovation areas driving both defense and commercial applications.
Domains define the operational environments where these technologies apply, including Air, Space, Land, Sea, Information & Analytics, and Data & Systems. This contextual approach ensures technologies are classified based on how they function rather than arbitrary industry silos.
3. Decision Enablement Through Structured Intelligence
By breaking down the overlap between commercial and defense markets, the Dual Tech Taxonomy allows:
Startups to understand where their technology fits, expand into adjacent markets, and navigate funding pathways.
Investors to identify emerging trends, de-risk capital allocation, and track government-backed funding opportunities.
Policymakers to align national security priorities with commercial innovation pipelines.
This structured, thematic approach replaces fragmented industry insights with a coherent intelligence framework that accelerates decision-making and strategic alignment.
A Bold Vision for the Future
DualSight is on a mission to bring coherence to the dual-use technology ecosystem—not just by mapping it, but by making it actionable. Our taxonomy is not static; it evolves alongside emerging technologies, market shifts, and policy changes.
As we refine this framework, our goal is to transform how stakeholders engage with dual-use innovation, bridge commercial and defense ecosystems, and unlock new opportunities at scale.
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