Innovation and Competitiveness

Innovation and Competitiveness

As nations engage in a race for global advantage in innovation, ITIF champions a new policy paradigm that ensures businesses and national economies can compete successfully by spurring public and private investment in foundational areas such as research, skills, and 21st century infrastructure.

For a menu of actionable ideas for policymakers to foster innovation, growth, and progress, see ITIF’s “Tech Policy To-Do List.”

For a menu of actionable ideas for policymakers to foster innovation, growth, and progress, see ITIF’s “Tech Policy To-Do List.”

Innovation and Competitiveness
Check a box to narrow search for individual content items that cover numerous issues.
August 20, 2018
Comments to the Federal Trade Commission on Competition and Consumer Protection in the 21st Century
Unfortunately, as the economy has become more innovation-based, there has been considerably less focus on how regulatory agencies can both protect consumers from harm and avoid undermining incentives for innovation.
November 10, 2015
The Assault on Federally Supported Science
Many of the recent attacks on government-backed research conveniently ignore the huge impact that such science has provided worldwide, writes Rob Atkinson in the Christian Science Monitor.
Competitiveness
Competitiveness: analysis of factors and policies driving national competitiveness, including improving innovation ecosystems and the technical capacity of high-value-added industries.
Defense and National Security
Defense and National Security: examining defense innovation issues, including weapons systems, innovation in defense and homeland security agencies, and the role of defense R&D in spurring innovation and competitiveness.
Economic Theory
Economic Theory: assessing the negative impact of conventional neo-Keynesianism and neoclassical economics on the 21st century economy and promoting “Innovation Economics” as a sounder alternative.
Emerging Technologies
Emerging Technologies: analysis of issues surrounding the development and adoption of transformative new technologies—from drones and advanced robotics to 3D printing and digital currencies.
Intellectual Property
Intellectual Property: analysis of how appropriately governed intellectual property protections—including patents, copyright, trademarks, and trade secrets—drive innovation.
Manufacturing
Manufacturing: examining current trends and encouraging continued innovation in the manufacturing sector through increased public and private investment.
Productivity
Productivity: analyzing past, present, and future trends in productivity, and advancing policies to drive robust productivity growth, including through tech-based automation.
Regulation and Antitrust
Regulation and Antitrust: how and why governments should craft regulatory policies that stimulate instead of inhibiting innovation and competitiveness—featuring the work of ITIF’s Schumpeter Project, which advances dynamic competition policy in which innovation is a central concern for antitrust enforcement.
Science and R&D
Science and R&D: promoting public and private investment in research and development through public funding for research at national laboratories and universities, tax incentives to encourage business R&D, and policies to spur technology transfer from lab to market.
Skills and Future of Work
Skills and Future of Work: building skills through science, technology, engineering, and math education; use of technology in primary and secondary school; higher education reform; innovations such as massive open online courses; and incumbent worker-training policies.
State and Local
State and Local: assessing state and local technology and innovation policies, and benchmarking progress in the broader transition to the new economy.
Taxes and Budget
Taxes and Budget: how tax policy and budgets can boost investment, competitiveness and economic growth.