Horizon Scanning Scientific and Technological Trends in Water Security: A Bibliometric and Patent Analysis with an Emphasis on Iran’s Innovation Policy

Objective: This study aims to identify global scientific and technological trends in water security and derive their initial policy implications for Iran’s water-security innovation policy. The central problem is that water security in Iran is no longer only a matter of resource scarcity, drought response, demand management, or water conflict; it has increasingly become a spatial-political, socio-hydrological, and technological issue.

Method: The study employed a descriptive-analytical design with a foresight-oriented perspective. In the bibliometric section, 4,959 articles indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection during 2020–2026 were retrieved and analyzed using VOSviewer. In the patent analysis section, 276,890 records related to selected water-security technologies were retrieved from Lens up to April 20, 2026. The findings were then compared through an integrated matrix.

Findings: The bibliometric findings show that contemporary water-security literature is organized around climate change, governance, conflict, vulnerability, adaptation, groundwater, and water quality, while gradually moving toward water reuse, desalination, artificial intelligence, smart monitoring, and remote sensing. Patent analysis indicates that water treatment, reuse, desalination, membrane technologies, water-quality monitoring, leak detection, digital twins, and smart water systems have become active areas of global intellectual property.

Conclusion: The findings indicate that Iran’s future water security cannot be secured only through conventional resource management. Iran needs to strengthen its water-security innovation policy by developing and localizing key technologies, promoting data-driven governance, reducing technological dependence, improving resource monitoring, and continuously monitoring scientific and patent trends in the water sector.