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The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation is a non-partisan research and educational institute - a think tank - whose mission is to formulate and promote public policies to advance technological innovation and productivity internationally, in Washingon, and in the states.

New from ITIF
  • Innovation Economics, Cap and Trade, and Global Warming
    June 18, 2009
    Article

    In this BusinessWeek article ITIF President Rob Atkinson analyzes the cap and trade debate through the lens of the four prevailing economic doctrines in Washington, and argues that an innovation-economics approach to global warming that does not rely just on prices or regulation, but on a proactive “green” innovation strategy is required if we are to successfully reduce our global carbon footprint.

  • Group Effort Needed to Secure Cyberspace
    June 15, 2009
    Article

    In a recent article in the Houston Chronicle ITIF senior analyst Daniel Castro along with Rice University’s Dan Wallach and Chris Bronk discuss the importance of creating safeguards against cyber attacks. While the government cannot address the threat of cyberspace attacks alone, it can play a meaningful role in fostering the type of public-private partnerships that will be able to help secure our digital infrastructure.

  • Wireless Taxation, Economic Growth and Economic Opportunity
    June 09, 2009
    Testimony and Filings

    In a testimony before the Judiciary Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law, Rob Atkinson discusses why discriminatory taxes on wireless services have a negative impact on economic growth and innovation.

  • Federal Government Policy on the Use of Persistent Internet Cookies: Time for Change or More of the Same?
    May 26, 2009
    Report

    In the digital world a decade is a long time, yet federal government websites are using the same restrictive policy on “cookies“—small data files stored on a user’s computer—established during the Clinton administration. In this report, ITIF looks at the origins of this federal government policy, the current uses of persistent cookies, and proposes a new framework for the use of persistent cookies on government websites given current trends in e-government. The goal, ITIF argues, should be to loosen the restrictions on the use of cookies and balance privacy against other equally important goals such as usability, accessibility and transparency.

Looking for a report or event? Use the navigation bar on the left to view by issue, search for a specific report, or visit the ITIF Archive for a complete chronological list of all reports and events.


Featured Reports


  • The Atlantic Century: Benchmarking EU and U.S. Innovation and Competitiveness
    February 25, 2009
    Special Report

    ITIF uses 16 indicators to assess the global innovation-based competitiveness of 36 countries and 4 regions. This report finds that while the U.S. still leads the EU in innovation-based competitiveness, it ranks sixth overall. Moreover, the U.S. ranks last in progress toward the new knowledge-based innovation economy over the last decade.

  • The 2008 State New Economy Index: Benchmarking Economic Transformation in the States
    November 18, 2008
    Special Report

    In a report sponsored by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, ITIF employs 29 indicators to assess the extent to which the 50 state economies are structured according to the tenets of the New Economy. The changing economic landscape requires state economies to be innovative, globally-linked, entrepreneurial and dynamic, with an educated workforce and all sectors embracing the use of information technology. The report, which updates and expands on the 2002 and 2007 State New Economy Index reports, ranks the states accordingly. The five states ranking the highest in 2008 are, in order of rank, Massachusetts, Washington, Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey. With these measures as a frame of reference, the report outlines the next generation of innovative state-level public policies needed to meet the challenges of the New Economy, improve state competitiveness and boost incomes of all Americans.

  • Explaining International Broadband Leadership
    May 01, 2008
    Special Report

    A report examining broadband promotion policies in 9 nations finds that while we shouldn’t look to other nations for silver bullets or assume that practices in one nation will automatically work in another, U.S. policymakers can and should learn from broadband “best practices” in other nations. Emulating the right policies here will enable the U.S. to increase our broadband performance faster than in the absence of proactive policies. Based on the findings from other nations, the report proposes 11 policy recommendations to spur both deployment of more ubiquitous and faster networks and adoption of broadband by consumers.

  • Boosting Productivity, Innovation, and Growth Through a National Innovation Foundation
    April 22, 2008
    Report

    There is disturbing evidence that America’s innovation lead is shrinking. Moreover, expanded support for basic research and science education, while important, will not be enough to respond to this challenge. Without a more robust, targeted, and explicit federal innovation policy, U.S. competitiveness will continue to slip and economic growth will lag. In a new report, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation and the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program argue that a critical step in that direction is the establishment of a National Innovation Foundation – a nimble, lean and collaborative entity devoted to supporting firms and other organizations in their innovative activities.

  • Digital Prosperity: Understanding the Economic Benefits of the Information Technology Revolution
    March 13, 2007
    Special Report

    There have been surprisingly few attempts to catalogue what is known about the economic impact of information and communications technology (IT). In a new report, ITIF does just that, examining the impact of IT in five key areas: 1) productivity; 2) employment; 3) more efficient markets; 4) higher quality goods and services; and 5) innovation and new products and services. The report finds that the integration of IT into virtually all aspects of the economy and society is creating a digitally-enabled economy that is responsible for generating the lion’s share of economic growth and prosperity, both here and abroad, including in developing nations. Importantly, the “IT engine” does not appear likely to run out of gas anytime soon and should power robust growth for at least the next decade, provided that policy makers take the right steps. Toward that end the report lays out five key public policy principles for driving digital prosperity: 1) give the digital economy its due; 2) actively encourage digital innovation and transformation of economic sectors; 3) use the tax code to spur IT investment; 4) encourage universal digital literacy and adoption; and 5) do no harm.