Introducing SCSP’s Tech Scorecard
Introducing a new comparative analysis framework that we are using to revamp our assessments of the U.S.-China tech competition.
Answering the Call: The Strategic Imperative for Tech Competition Analysis
Right now, Chinese policymakers are gathering in Beijing for the 2026 “Two Sessions”, the annual meetings of the National People’s Congress (NPC), and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). This year’s political conclave carries historical weight as it marks the official launch of the People’s Republic of China’s 15th Five-Year Plan, a blueprint that will define the next phase of China’s technological and industrial strategy from 2026 to 2030. As Beijing pivots from quantitative “growth at any cost” to an era defined by “New Quality Productive Forces,” the meetings will provide critical signals on the PRC’s state-directed technological ambitions, including technological self-reliance, record R&D investment, and deployment at scale.
As the Two Sessions institutionalize this technology-driven growth model, the conflicting signals coming out of the U.S.-China tech competition will become increasingly difficult to interpret. Headlines might soon highlight massive Chinese state investments, R&D surges, and hyped technological advancements, but in this fog of metrics, how do U.S. policymakers figure out which moves actually matter?
In 1972, Congress authorized the now-defunct Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) to answer that very question by providing insight into the technological competitions of the late 20th century. Today, the U.S.–China rivalry necessitates a revitalization of this practice. Existing government and private efforts on this front are falling short, struggling with either being one-sided or overly stovepiped. U.S. Intelligence Community analysis is focused on China’s capabilities, lacking the mandate to offer the perspective on how the United States fits into the picture. Many measures and indices offered by research organizations focus only on one piece of the puzzle, such as investment or research, without taking the holistic view of the technology sector.
In this void, SCSP has developed the SCSP Tech Scorecard, a novel framework designed to comprehensively measure a country’s advantages and disadvantages across critical technology sectors. The SCSP Tech Scorecard builds on and refines our previous “Gaps Analysis” of technology leadership. Throughout the year, SCSP will be using the SCSP Tech Scorecard to evaluate who’s ahead and who’s behind in various critical technology areas that will be determinants of national power in the years to come.
The New Approach: A Methodology for Comprehensiveness and Nuance
To move beyond narrow binary comparisons, the SCSP Tech Scorecard evaluates national competitiveness through a framework composed of five distinct categories–innovation leadership, industrial capacity, market ecosystem, talent pipeline, and national leverage–each of which represents a dimension of technological power needed to hold a positional advantage in any given technology. These categories ensure a holistic perspective of each technology analyzed while allowing the specific metrics that are measured to be tailored to the technology in question, taking into account its stage of development and specific material requirements.
The SCSP Tech Scorecard applies a structured analytic approach to compile, weigh, and score both quantitative and qualitative metrics, offering an objective and clear view of the state of each critical technology and how national advantages are built, sustained, or lost over time.
By enabling more informed assessments of strengths, vulnerabilities, and long-term trends, the Tech Scorecard equips policymakers and decision-makers with a critical advantage to shape strategies that strengthen U.S. competitiveness. As technological competition increasingly drives economic and strategic outcomes, comprehensive, comparative insight is no longer optional; it is essential.
Throughout the year, SCSP will be regularly releasing Scorecards on the most critical technologies shaping the world. Stay tuned for the first publication, coming soon, on Robotics for Advanced Manufacturing.
Read more about our methodology in the white paper, The SCSP Tech Scorecard: A Framework for Comparative Analysis.