Dual use innovation systems–building industrial resilience in an era of geopolitical uncertainty

Journal article, 2026

Amid escalating geopolitical tensions, dual use technologies enabling both civilian and military applications have become critical for national resilience. However, several gaps still exist today that undermine its understanding and applications across a triple helix: academia, civil industry and the government. The purpose of this study was to examine how dual use is conceptualized and operationalized among the three stakeholder groups and how Swedish production research and innovation can enhance manufacturing capacity and resilience during geopolitical uncertainty. The study employed a multi-method approach analyzing twenty-one semi-structured interviews across the three stakeholder groups, a workshop and twenty surveys, culminating in a systems thinking framework to map interdependencies between identified themes. The analysis demonstrates how dual use innovation capabilities create feedback loops (reinforcing and balancing) that strengthen both civil industrial competitiveness and defense preparedness. The reinforcing loop “technological evolution drives AI and industrial adaptation” most strongly reinforces dual use potential, while the reinforcing loop “military attitudes reduce collaboration” most significantly constrains it. The study recommends pursuing reinforcing loops while accepting the necessary constraints imposed by balancing loops. The interaction between these opposing forces illustrates how resilience in dual use industrial systems emerges not from eliminating trade-offs, but from managing them.