Understanding Factbase Domains

Factbase measures national capability through six interconnected domains. Each domain captures a distinct dimension of how nations develop, deploy and demonstrate capability across defence, technology and strategic sectors. Together, they provide a comprehensive framework for assessing where capability resides, how it advances and what nations can actually do.

National capability is not a single metric. It emerges from the interaction of knowledge creation, human talent, institutional capacity, material systems, geographic factors and operational activity. Factbase's domain architecture reflects this complexity whilst maintaining analytical clarity.

The Six Domains

Research - Publications and patents that advance knowledge
Topics - Classification taxonomy that defines capability areas
Actors - People and organisations that drive progress
Countries - Nation-states as units of capability assessment
Assets - Physical systems that manifest capability
Events - Temporal activities that demonstrate capability

Each domain serves a distinct analytical function whilst connecting through graph relationships to enable cross-domain queries and composite assessments.

Research Domain

Research captures the knowledge foundation of national capability. Academic publications demonstrate scientific advancement. Patents protect and reveal technological innovation. Together they measure a nation's contribution to the global knowledge frontier.

What it contains: Journal articles, conference papers, preprints, patent filings, technical reports

Key measurements:

• Publication volume by topic and country
• Citation impact and research influence
• Technology maturity and patent activity
• Collaboration networks across institutions and nations
• Temporal trends in research focus

Why it matters: Nations cannot build advanced capability without underlying research. Publication analytics reveal where scientific expertise concentrates, which topics attract investment and how knowledge flows across borders. A country publishing prolifically on solid-state batteries signals industrial ambitions; one citing heavily in hypersonics indicates weapons development priorities.

Connection to other domains: Research is authored by Actors, classified by Topics, conducted in Countries, and often precedes development of Assets that later appear in Events.

Topics Domain

Topics provides the classification framework that organises all other domains. This is not data to be measured but the measurement system itself. The topic taxonomy defines what constitutes quantum computing, what falls under air defence, which technologies count as critical.

What it contains: Hierarchical classification schemes spanning:

• Critical Technology taxonomy (47 technology areas)
• Hard Capability framework (7 defence domains, 29 capabilities)
• Research subject classifications
• Weapons categories and platform types
• Event classifications

Key function: Enable consistent categorisation across all domains so that:

• Research papers can be assigned to technology topics
• Actors can be measured by their expertise in specific areas
• Assets can be classified by capability domain
• Events can be tagged to relevant strategic sectors
• Countries can be assessed across standardised capability dimensions

Why it matters: Without a controlled taxonomy, measurement becomes subjective and incomparable. Topics ensure that "artificial intelligence" means the same thing in Beijing and California, that "fifth-generation fighter" has consistent technical criteria, that analysts assessing different nations use identical frameworks.

Connection to other domains: Topics classifies everything—it is the connective tissue linking Research to Assets, Actors to Countries, and Events to capability assessment.

Actors Domain

Actors represents the human and organisational dimension. National capability ultimately derives from people and the institutions they build. Researchers publish breakthroughs, engineers design systems, companies manufacture equipment, agencies conduct operations.

What it contains:

• Individual researchers, military commanders, technology executives, intelligence officers
• Organisations including companies, government agencies, research institutes, military units
• Groups such as APT actors, terrorist organisations, research consortia

Key measurements:

• Topic expertise based on publication and patent activity
• Network position within collaboration graphs
• Institutional affiliations and employment patterns
• Geographic concentration of talent
• Temporal tracking of personnel movements

Why it matters: Capability assessment requires knowing who possesses expertise. Counting Chinese publications on quantum computing matters less if those papers come from five researchers. Identifying that Lockheed Martin employs 200 hypersonics engineers whilst Boeing has 40 reveals industrial capacity distribution.

Connection to other domains: Actors author Research, work for organisations in Countries, develop and operate Assets, and participate in Events. Actor measurement aggregates to organisational and national capability.

Countries Domain

Countries serves as the primary unit of geopolitical analysis. Nations compete, cooperate and compare capability. Defence planning, technology policy and strategic assessment all operate at country level.

What it contains:

• Sovereign states and their territories
• Geopolitical groupings and alliances
• Sub-national regions where relevant to capability concentration
• Standard geographic codes (ISO 3166, UN M49)

Key measurements:

• Aggregate research output and citation impact by topic
• Talent concentration and institutional capacity
• Military inventories and strategic infrastructure
• Technology sovereignty and industrial capability
• Capability scores across defence domains

Why it matters: Questions about national capability require country-level answers. Which nation leads in quantum sensing? How does Russia's air defence compare to NATO? What percentage of global semiconductor fabrication capacity sits in Taiwan? Countries is where individual measurements aggregate into strategic assessment.

Connection to other domains: Countries contain Actors and Assets, fund Research, define Topics priorities through policy, and host Events. National capability emerges from synthesis across all domains.

Assets Domain

Assets captures the material expression of capability. Technology advances and human expertise ultimately produce physical systems—satellites that enable communications, reactors that generate power, submarines that project force.

What it contains:

• Military platforms: aircraft, ships, submarines, vehicles
• Weapons systems: missiles, bombs, directed energy weapons
• Strategic infrastructure: nuclear plants, fabrication facilities, space launch sites
• Surveillance systems: satellites, radar networks, sensor arrays
• Cyber infrastructure: data centres, undersea cables, telecommunications networks

Key measurements:

• Inventory quantities by platform type and capability tier
• Technical specifications and performance parameters
• Operational status and deployment locations
• Production capacity and modernisation rates
• Technology embodied in systems

Why it matters: Capability manifests in what nations possess and can deploy. A country may research hypersonics extensively, but operational capability requires functioning missiles. Industrial capacity matters only if fabrication plants actually exist. Assets measurement separates aspiration from reality.

Connection to other domains: Assets are developed by Actors, operated by Countries, embody technology Topics, appear in Research (through development publications), and participate in Events (tests, deployments, engagements).

Events Domain

Events captures the temporal dimension—activities that demonstrate, test or employ capability. Military exercises reveal operational readiness. Weapons tests validate technical performance. Policy announcements signal strategic priorities.

What it contains:

• Military exercises and deployments
• Weapons tests and technology demonstrations
• Operational incidents and engagements
• Policy changes and treaty agreements
• Industrial activities (facility openings, production milestones)
• Research milestones (breakthroughs, collaborations launched)

Key measurements:

• Event frequency and scale by country and domain
• Participant identification (which Actors, Assets involved)
• Temporal patterns and strategic signalling
• Operational outcomes and performance validation
• Geographic distribution of activity

Why it matters: Capability requires demonstration. A nation claiming fifth-generation fighter capability needs flight testing events. Cyber capability shows through intrusion incidents. Strategic intent reveals through exercise patterns. Events provide temporal evidence validating or contradicting capability claims from other domains.

Connection to other domains: Events involve Assets operated by Actors from specific Countries, relate to technology Topics, sometimes generate Research publications, and provide validation data for capability assessment.

Domain Integration

Factbase's analytical power derives from integration across domains through graph database architecture:

Cross-domain queries: "Show Chinese researchers publishing on gallium nitride semiconductors who work at institutions affiliated with companies manufacturing phased array radars deployed on Type 055 destroyers"

This query traverses:

• Research domain (publications on GaN)
• Actors domain (researchers and institutions)
• Countries domain (China)
• Topics domain (semiconductors, radar technology)
• Assets domain (Type 055 destroyer, radar systems)

Capability synthesis: Assessing China's air defence capability requires:

• Research: Publications on radar, missiles, sensors
• Actors: Defence contractors, research institutes, military units
• Assets: Surface-to-air missiles, radar systems, command networks
• Events: Test firings, exercises, deployments
• Topics: Air defence classification within Hard Capability framework
• Countries: Aggregation to national-level assessment

Temporal analysis: Tracking hypersonic weapons development over time requires:

• Research: Publication trends 2015–2025
• Actors: Researcher movements, company formations
• Assets: Prototype systems, test vehicles, operational missiles
• Events: Wind tunnel tests, flight tests, deployment announcements
• Topics: Classification of hypersonic technologies
• Countries: Comparative progress across US, China, Russia

Data Flow Between Domains

Understanding how data moves between domains clarifies the architecture:

Research → Actors: Publications create or update author records, establishing topic expertise
Actors → Countries: Personnel affiliations aggregate to national talent measurements
Research → Topics: Papers and patents populate topic classifications with content
Assets → Events: Platform participation in exercises updates operational status
Events → Countries: Activity frequency contributes to capability readiness assessment
Topics → Everything: Classification system organises all other domains

The graph structure enables bidirectional traversal. Starting from a Country, query can reach:

• All Actors affiliated with that nation
• All Research produced by those Actors
• All Assets operated by the country
• All Events involving those Assets
• All Topics where the country demonstrates capability

Analytical Applications

The six-domain architecture supports multiple analytical workflows:

National Capability Assessment

Question: How does China's quantum technology capability compare to the United States?

Approach:

• Research: Compare publication volume, citation impact, patent filings by quantum topic areas
• Actors: Count researchers, assess institutional capacity, map talent networks
• Assets: Inventory quantum communication satellites, quantum computers, research facilities
• Events: Track technology demonstrations, deployment announcements, collaboration initiatives
• Topics: Apply consistent quantum technology taxonomy to both nations
• Countries: Synthesise measurements into comparative assessment

Technology Gap Analysis

Question: Which countries lead in solid-state battery development?

Approach:

• Topics: Define solid-state battery classification within energy storage taxonomy
• Research: Rank countries by publications, citations and patent activity
• Actors: Identify leading researchers and companies by country
• Assets: Map pilot production facilities and manufacturing capacity
• Events: Track commercialisation milestones and production announcements
• Countries: Assess which nations have moved from research to industrial capability

Force Structure Comparison

Question: How does Russia's surface navy compare to NATO?

Approach:

• Assets: Inventory combatants by type, class and capability tier
• Topics: Apply consistent warship classification scheme
• Actors: Compare shipbuilding industrial base, manning levels
• Events: Assess exercise frequency, deployment patterns, operational tempo
• Research: Examine publications on relevant naval technologies
• Countries: Aggregate Russian capability vs combined NATO capability

Supply Chain Vulnerability

Question: What happens if Taiwan semiconductor fabrication becomes unavailable?

Approach:

• Assets: Map all sub-7nm fabrication facilities globally
• Countries: Assess concentration in Taiwan, alternatives in other nations
• Actors: Identify companies with relevant manufacturing capability
• Research: Evaluate technology publications showing indigenous development capability
• Topics: Define semiconductor process nodes requiring these facilities
• Events: Track capacity expansion announcements, geopolitical developments

Talent Flow Analysis

Question: Where do AI researchers trained in the United States ultimately work?

Approach:

• Actors: Track researchers with US PhD institutions
• Research: Identify current publication affiliations
• Countries: Aggregate current locations vs training locations
• Topics: Filter to AI-relevant research areas
• Events: Note recruitment initiatives, policy changes affecting mobility
• Assets: Correlate to countries building AI infrastructure

Design Principles

The domain architecture follows consistent principles:

Minimal duplication: Each domain captures unique information. Biographical details live in external databases; Factbase links rather than replicates.

Graph connectivity: Domains connect through explicit relationships. An Asset links to its operating Country, developing Actor, embodied Topics and participation Events.

Measurement focus: Domains emphasise quantification over description. Research counts citations, Actors measures expertise, Assets inventories quantities, Events tracks frequency.

Temporal awareness: All domains support historical queries. Who published in this area five years ago? Which assets were operational in 2020? What events occurred last quarter?

Source attribution: All claims link to external sources. Research connects to OpenAlex, Assets to Jane's, Events to news sources, enabling verification.

Consistent classification: Topics domain ensures standardised taxonomies across all measurements, enabling valid comparisons.

What Factbase Is Not

Clarifying boundaries prevents scope creep:

Not a biographical database: Use ORCID, LinkedIn or Wikipedia for career histories
Not a news aggregation service: Use specialist media for current developments
Not a specification repository: Use Jane's or manufacturer documentation for technical details
Not a historical archive: Focus on current and recent capability, not comprehensive chronology
Not a social network: Use research collaboration platforms for academic networking
Not a real-time tracker: Use FlightRadar24, Space-Track or news services for immediate updates

Factbase identifies what exists, measures activity by topic and capability, classifies using consistent frameworks, and links to external sources for depth.

Technical Foundation

All six domains operate on shared infrastructure:

Graph database: Nodes represent entities (papers, people, platforms, countries), edges represent relationships (authorship, operation, participation, classification)

Vector embeddings: Semantic representation of content enabling similarity search across Research, topic matching in Topics, expertise profiling in Actors

Time series: Historical snapshots supporting temporal queries across all domains—publication trends, personnel movements, force structure evolution, event patterns

Geospatial indexing: Location-aware queries for Assets deployment, Events geography, Actors affiliation, Research collaboration

External integration: APIs and links connecting to ORCID, OpenAlex, Crossref, patent databases, equipment catalogues, news sources

Provenance tracking: Every relationship and measurement links to source, enabling confidence assessment and verification

Access Patterns

Different users query domains differently:

Strategic analysts: Primarily Countries domain, synthesising measurements from other domains into national assessments

Technology analysts: Topics and Research domains, tracking advancement in specific technology areas

Military analysts: Assets and Events domains, assessing force structure and operational activity

Intelligence analysts: Actors and Events domains, tracking personnel and organisational developments

Research analysts: Research and Actors domains, measuring scientific output and collaboration

Policy analysts: Countries and Events domains, monitoring geopolitical developments

The domain architecture serves all these perspectives through shared data accessed via different query patterns.

Future Extensions

The six-domain structure provides foundation for expansion:

Metrics domain: Formalise composite indices (TMCM scores, capability rankings) as distinct analytical products

Policy domain: Track legislation, regulations, strategies affecting capability development

Standards domain: Catalogue technical standards, certification regimes, interoperability frameworks

Finance domain: Defence budgets, R&D funding, technology investment flows

These potential additions would connect to existing domains—Policies affecting Countries, Standards embodied in Assets, Finance supporting Actors and Research—whilst maintaining architectural coherence.

Conclusion

Factbase's six domains provide comprehensive coverage of national capability:

Research shows where knowledge advances
Topics defines what capabilities mean
Actors identifies who drives progress
Countries assesses where capability concentrates
Assets catalogues what nations possess
Events demonstrates what nations actually do

No single domain suffices. Capability assessment requires synthesis. A nation publishing extensively on hypersonics (Research) means little without engineers to develop systems (Actors), industrial capacity to produce them (Assets), operational testing (Events) and clear classification frameworks (Topics) enabling comparison across nations (Countries).

The domains interconnect through graph relationships enabling queries that span all six. This architecture transforms distributed, heterogeneous data into structured capability intelligence answering strategic questions about national power, technological competition and geopolitical dynamics.