- As founder and president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), Robert D. Atkinson leads a p... moreAs founder and president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), Robert D. Atkinson leads a prolific team of policy analysts and fellows that is successfully shaping the debate and setting the agenda on a host of critical issues at the intersection of technological innovation and public policy.
He is an internationally recognized scholar and a widely published author whom The New Republic has named one of the “three most important thinkers about innovation,” Washingtonian Magazine has called a “tech titan,” and Government Technology Magazine has judged to be one of the 25 top “doers, dreamers and drivers of information technology.”
A sought-after speaker and valued adviser to policymakers around the world, Atkinson’s books include Innovation Economics: The Race for Global Advantage (Yale, 2012), Supply-Side Follies: Why Conservative Economics Fails, Liberal Economics Falters, and Innovation Economics is the Answer (Rowman & Littlefield, 2006), and The Past And Future Of America’s Economy: Long Waves Of Innovation That Power Cycles Of Growth (Edward Elgar, 2005). He also has conducted groundbreaking research projects and authored hundreds of articles and reports on technology and innovation-related topics ranging from tax policy to advanced manufacturing, productivity, and global competitiveness.
President Clinton appointed Atkinson to the Commission on Workers, Communities, and Economic Change in the New Economy; the Bush administration appointed him chair of the congressionally created National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission; and the Obama administration appointed him to the National Innovation and Competitiveness Strategy Advisory Board. He also served as co-chair of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy’s China-U.S. Innovation Policy Experts Group. He is currently a member of the U.S. State Department’s Advisory Committee on International Communications and Information Policy and the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
Atkinson is a member of the Markle Foundation Task Force on National Security in the Information Age and serves on the boards or advisory councils of the Internet Education Foundation, the NetChoice Coalition, the University of Oregon’s Institute for Policy Research and Innovation, and the State Science and Technology Institute. Additionally, Atkinson is on the editorial boards of the Journal of Electronic Government and the Journal of Internet Policy; a member of the Global Innovation Forum Brain Trust; a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution; a fellow at the Columbia University Institute of Tele-Information; and a fellow of Glocom, a Tokyo-based research institute.
Atkinson was previously vice president of the Progressive Policy Institute, where he directed the Technology & New Economy Project. He wrote numerous research reports on technology and innovation policy, covering issues such as broadband telecommunications, e-commerce, e-government, privacy, copyright, R&D tax policy, offshoring, and innovation economics.
Previously, Atkinson served as the first executive director of the Rhode Island Economic Policy Council (RIEPC), a public-private partnership whose members included the state’s governor, legislative leaders, and both corporate and labor leaders. As head of RIEPC, Atkinson was responsible for drafting a comprehensive economic development strategy for the state and working with the legislature and executive branch of government to successfully implement each element of a 10-point action agenda.
Prior to his service in Rhode Island, Atkinson was a project director at the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment, where, among other projects, he spearheaded The Technological Reshaping of Metropolitan America, a seminal report examining the impact of the information technology revolution on America’s urban areas.
As a respected policy expert and commentator, Atkinson has testified numerous times before the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, and he appears frequently on news and public affairs programs. Among others, these appearances have included interviews on BBC, CNBC, CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, NPR, and NBC Nightly News.
Atkinson holds a Ph.D. in city and regional planning from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, where he was awarded the prestigious Joseph E. Pogue Fellowship. He earned his master’s degree in urban and regional planning from the University of Oregon, which named him a distinguished alumnus in 2014.edit
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As Rob Atkinson writes for BRINK News, one of the most important things governments can do is implement policies that spur faster, deeper, and wider adoption of robots—not just in manufacturing, but across the economy. Many of the leading... more
As Rob Atkinson writes for BRINK News, one of the most important things governments can do is implement policies that spur faster, deeper, and wider adoption of robots—not just in manufacturing, but across the economy. Many of the leading nations have established national goals and strategies to support robotics innovation and robot adoption, including proactive tax incentives for investing in robots. In contrast, the United States lacks a national robotics strategy.
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Research Interests: Business and The Internet
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INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................ 1 I. IS BROADBAND AFFORDABLE IN THE UNITED STATES?.............. 2 II. COMPETITION ÜBER ALLES?... more
INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................ 1 I. IS BROADBAND AFFORDABLE IN THE UNITED STATES?.............. 2 II. COMPETITION ÜBER ALLES? ........................................................ 4 III. DIFFERING PERSPECTIVES ON BROADBAND SERVICE: ENGINEERS VS. ECONOMISTS ....................................................... 5 A. The Engineer’s Perspective ................................................ 6 B. The Economist’s Perspective .............................................. 7 C. Who’s Right?......................................................................... 9 IV. POLICY OPTIONS ......................................................................... 12 A. Keep the Same Number of Pipes ..................................... 12 B. Spur Deployment of More Pipes ..................................... 13 C. Regulate Open Pipes ......................................................... 15 D. Regulate Duopoly Pipes......
Research Interests: Business and Competition
Research Interests: Economics and Tax credit
Kyoto. Copenhagen. Cancún. Now Durban. Don’t expect much when representatives from nearly 200 countries meet in the South African city this week to try once again to create an international climate change agreement. Even if talks... more
Kyoto. Copenhagen. Cancún. Now Durban. Don’t expect much when representatives from nearly 200 countries meet in the South African city this week to try once again to create an international climate change agreement. Even if talks succeeded beyond the proponents’ wildest dreams and every country agreed to carbon emissions targets, it would still not be a success. Why? Because carbon emission targets alone can’t reduce greenhouse gas emissions enough—not with the current technology. Like previous conferences, Durban is likely to overlook the best way to drastically reduce carbon emissions—making unsubsidized clean energy cost-competitive with fossil fuels by driving innovation.
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A prevailing narrative that serves as a backdrop for the 2016 presidential campaign is that Americans now live in an economy of perpetual job insecurity, in which they are easily and frequently laid off, from both highand low-level jobs.... more
A prevailing narrative that serves as a backdrop for the 2016 presidential campaign is that Americans now live in an economy of perpetual job insecurity, in which they are easily and frequently laid off, from both highand low-level jobs. Indeed, job satisfaction surveys conducted by the Conference Board confirm that this sense of insecurity is increasingly widespread. In 1987, a solid majority of U.S. workers (59 percent) said they felt their jobs were secure; by 2014, less than half felt that way (47 percent).1 Yet while people feel less secure now than in the past, employment data tell a different story. Job security has in fact steadily increased since the 1990s: The number of jobs lost each year, as a share of all jobs, has gone down. The number of jobs lost to firms downsizing or closing also has dropped. Meanwhile, the number of new job postings, as a share of all jobs in the economy, has surged since the Great Recession. This mismatch between perception and reality is potenti...
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I T I F Perhaps no social and economic issue is getting so much attention these days as the need to transition to a low-carbon economy. Most scientific evidence suggests that a 50 to 85 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions (GHG)... more
I T I F Perhaps no social and economic issue is getting so much attention these days as the need to transition to a low-carbon economy. Most scientific evidence suggests that a 50 to 85 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) must occur by 2050 to prevent global temperatures from rising more than two degrees Celsius. Toward that end, numerous advocacy groups, scholars, think tanks and others have proposed a variety of steps to take based on a set of assumptions about the green economy. Yet, while we need to take bold action to address climate change, much of what passes for conventional wisdom in this space is in fact either wrong or significantly exaggerated.
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With the U.S. unemployment rate stuck at over eight percent, one would expect a laser-like focus in Washington on simple tools that would increase growth. One key tool is the federal R&D tax credit: increasing the rate of the Alternative... more
With the U.S. unemployment rate stuck at over eight percent, one would expect a laser-like focus in Washington on simple tools that would increase growth. One key tool is the federal R&D tax credit: increasing the rate of the Alternative Simplified Credit (ASC) from 14 to 20 percent would increase annual GDP growth by $66 billion and create at least 162,000 jobs. Yet despite its efficacy, the United States continues to fall behind other nations in the generosity of its R&D tax incentive. Other countries, including Brazil, Canada, China, France, and India, have implemented R&D tax incentive schemes that far exceed that of the United States in generosity. In fact, in 2012, ITIF estimates that the United States ranks just 27th out of 42 countries studied in terms of R&D tax incentive generosity, down from 23rd just five years ago.
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THE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION FOUNDATION | OCTOBER 2013 Investment in new equipment and software is the primary means through which innovation—the key driver of economic growth—diffuses throughout the economy. Without new... more
THE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION FOUNDATION | OCTOBER 2013 Investment in new equipment and software is the primary means through which innovation—the key driver of economic growth—diffuses throughout the economy. Without new capital investment refreshing a nation’s capital stock, innovation loses its power, productivity growth stagnates, and national economic competitiveness declines. It is troubling, then, that over the past decade, business investment rates in the United States have stagnated. Between 1980 and 1989, business investment in equipment, software and structures grew by 2.7 percent per year on average and 5.2 percent per year between 1990 and 1999. But between 2000 and 2011 it grew by just 0.5 percent per year—less than a fifth of that of the 1980s and less than one tenth that of the 1990s. Moreover, as a share of GDP, business investment has declined by more than three percentage points since 1980.
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The U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking regarding extending export controls to what are termed “emerging and foundational technologies” (EFTs)—new or... more
The U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking regarding extending export controls to what are termed “emerging and foundational technologies” (EFTs)—new or foundational technologies that in some cases are essential to national security and are not currently covered by existing export control rules. It seeks to establish appropriate controls, including interim controls, on the export, reexport, or transfer (in country) of emerging and foundational technologies.
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THE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION FOUNDATION | MAY 2015 Next-generation information and communications technologies (IT) are set to revolutionize America’s transportation system. Whether it is the emergence of innovative connected... more
THE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION FOUNDATION | MAY 2015 Next-generation information and communications technologies (IT) are set to revolutionize America’s transportation system. Whether it is the emergence of innovative connected vehicles or intelligent infrastructure, the future of transportation lies not just in building new roads but in bringing intelligence to every asset in the U.S. transportation network—from roadways and private vehicles to commercial truck fleets and public transit systems—thereby making transportation safer, more accessible, and more efficient. Accordingly, it is time for U.S. transportation policy— principally enshrined through the Surface Transportation Reauthorization Act—to reflect this shift from “concrete” to “chips”: in other words, to comprehensively integrate IT into America’s surface transportation system.
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Manufacturing is indispensable to the health of the U.S. economy, for four key reasons: 1) Without a robust manufacturing sector, the U.S. will have great difficulty balancing its foreign trade; 2) Manufacturing is a key source of... more
Manufacturing is indispensable to the health of the U.S. economy, for four key reasons: 1) Without a robust manufacturing sector, the U.S. will have great difficulty balancing its foreign trade; 2) Manufacturing is a key source of above-average-paying jobs; 3) Manufacturing, R&D, and innovation go hand-in-hand. In fact, manufacturing is the principal source of innovation and R&D activity in the U.S. economy, and; 4) Manufacturing is vital to U.S. national security and defense.
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Industry funding of university research is an important component of U.S. academic research and industrial innovation, especially as federal funding for universities continues to decline and companies cut back on basic, intramural... more
Industry funding of university research is an important component of U.S. academic research and industrial innovation, especially as federal funding for universities continues to decline and companies cut back on basic, intramural research. However, U.S. states vary dramatically on the extent to which their research universities attract industry support. In part, this is because of policy and administrative choices states and universities make. All states, but especially the laggards, would benefit from policies to attract more industry research funding, particularly as such funding appears to generate technology-based economic activity at the state level.
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I T I F An effective national broadband strategy entails policies to both expand the supply of broadband infrastructure demand for broadband service. However, both supply and demand side policies are a means to an end—the principal goal... more
I T I F An effective national broadband strategy entails policies to both expand the supply of broadband infrastructure demand for broadband service. However, both supply and demand side policies are a means to an end—the principal goal of a national broadband strategy is to increase the number of individuals who use broadband Internet in effective ways that drive productivity, enhance their quality of life, and benefit society.
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INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION FOUNDATION | DECEMBER 2015 Technological innovation is the wellspring of human progress, providing higher living standards, improved health, a cleaner environment, increased access to information and... more
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION FOUNDATION | DECEMBER 2015 Technological innovation is the wellspring of human progress, providing higher living standards, improved health, a cleaner environment, increased access to information and many other benefits. Yet despite all of these benefits, a growing array of interests—some economic, some ideological— now stand in stubborn opposition to innovation. Following in the footsteps of the infamous Ned Ludd, an Englishman who led a movement in the early 19th century to destroy mechanized looms, today’s neoLuddites likewise want to foil technological progress.
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In December 2017, President Trump tweeted, “Why is the United States Post Office, which is losing many billions of dollars a year, while charging Amazon and others so little to deliver their packages, making Amazon richer and the Post... more
In December 2017, President Trump tweeted, “Why is the United States Post Office, which is losing many billions of dollars a year, while charging Amazon and others so little to deliver their packages, making Amazon richer and the Post Office dumber and poorer? Should be charging MUCH MORE!”1 The president’s tweet and other public statements— including the announcement on April 12, 2018 of an executive order calling for a task force on the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to, among other things, examine “the expansion and pricing of the package delivery market and USPS’s role in competitive markets,”—have led to new debate about USPS’s role in shipping packages. The president and some private shippers argue USPS is competing unfairly, hurting private package delivery companies, and unfairly helping shippers like Amazon. As this report shows, that argument is false.
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Congress has an opportunity to reform the corporate tax code to explicitly promote the competitiveness of business establishments in America by expanding, not cutting, incentives for investing in America, including the domestic production... more
Congress has an opportunity to reform the corporate tax code to explicitly promote the competitiveness of business establishments in America by expanding, not cutting, incentives for investing in America, including the domestic production deduction, the R&E tax credit, and accelerated depreciation. Ideally, Congress would also establish new incentives, such as an investment tax credit for new machinery, equipment and software investment (replacing accelerated depreciation) and a “patent box” incentive, as a number of European nations have recently put in place that taxes corporate income from innovation-based products at a lower rate.
Research Interests: Economics and Tax reform
The Information Technology & Innovation Foundation I T I F America’s economy has changed a lot in the last 20 years. Innovation – the development of new products, services and business models – has become the key factor in longterm U.S.... more
The Information Technology & Innovation Foundation I T I F America’s economy has changed a lot in the last 20 years. Innovation – the development of new products, services and business models – has become the key factor in longterm U.S. competitiveness in a globalized world. Hopefully 2010 will be the year of renewed attention to the creation of a more robust national innovation policy. In particular, the America COMPETES Act is up for reauthorization. Passed in 2007, in part in response to the National Academies’ report Rising Above The Gathering Storm, the Act authorized a number of new initiatives and funding for various programs, particularly for science and science education.
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Robots are key tools for boosting productivity and living standards. To date, most robot adoption has occurred in manufacturing, where there are robots designed to perform a wide variety of manual tasks more efficiently and consistently... more
Robots are key tools for boosting productivity and living standards. To date, most robot adoption has occurred in manufacturing, where there are robots designed to perform a wide variety of manual tasks more efficiently and consistently than humans. But with continued innovation, robot use is spreading to many other sectors, too, from agriculture to logistics to hospitality. As this trend continues — making robots increasingly important to productivity and competitiveness economy-wide — robot adoption will be a vital economic indicator for policymakers to monitor as a sign of growth and progress. The question is how best to measure it? The most commonly used method is to calculate the number of industrial robots as a share of manufacturing workers. But it is important to consider that there is a stronger economic case for adopting robots in higher-wage economies than there is in lower-wage economies. So, the more germane question is: Where do nations stand in robot adoption when we ...
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the wreckage, the received wisdom that emerged was straightforward. As Columbia University’s R. Glenn Hubbard commented in 2012: “The decline in U.S. manufacturing employment is explained by rapid growth in manufacturing productivity.”... more
the wreckage, the received wisdom that emerged was straightforward. As Columbia University’s R. Glenn Hubbard commented in 2012: “The decline in U.S. manufacturing employment is explained by rapid growth in manufacturing productivity.” That is, thanks to new machinery and software, manufacturers no longer needed as many workers as they once did to produce a given amount of output. This was an oddly comforting analysis, because it let unfair foreign trade practices and declining U.S. competitiveness off the hook. But despite being regularly repeated and widely accepted, the received wisdom was wrong. And worse, it made it possible to ignore the systemic rise of foreign mercantilist trade practices in the years that followed.
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The United States Postal Service (USPS) has reached a critical point, where it has exhausted its $15 billion borrowing authority from the federal government and is hemorrhaging billions of dollars per year. And while Congress is debating... more
The United States Postal Service (USPS) has reached a critical point, where it has exhausted its $15 billion borrowing authority from the federal government and is hemorrhaging billions of dollars per year. And while Congress is debating postal reform to respond to the crisis, the issue is not new. I wrote about this in 2001 when Congress was also considering postal reform that led to the Postal Reform Act of 2006.1 But then the crisis was only anticipated, not realized. I and others warned that with the migration to digital communications that absent serious structural reform, the future of USPS was dire.
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Improving federal enterprise performance is a perennial topic, from Eisenhower’s Hoover Commission, to Reagan’s Grace Commission, to Clinton’s Reinventing Government, to Bush’s E-Gov Initiatives, to Obama’s innovation efforts. But one... more
Improving federal enterprise performance is a perennial topic, from Eisenhower’s Hoover Commission, to Reagan’s Grace Commission, to Clinton’s Reinventing Government, to Bush’s E-Gov Initiatives, to Obama’s innovation efforts. But one major thing is different today. The challenge from the postwar period to the 1980s was principally for the federal enterprise to copy management structures and innovations in large Fortune 500 companies, something that was possible because the latter were bureaucratic structures themselves. Today, the challenge for all large organizations, public and private, is to become more flexible and to use technology to transform themselves. This is hard in big corporations; it is much harder in the federal enterprise. But that does not mean the task is insurmountable. It only means that much more significant change is needed: more than a few innovation pilot programs. Rather, the challenge now is to transform the entire federal enterprise through innovation. Th...
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Countries’ use of mercantilist policies in recent years has expanded dramatically, particularly in emerging economies such as Brazil, China, and India. These practices, such as forced technology transfer or local production as a condition... more
Countries’ use of mercantilist policies in recent years has expanded dramatically, particularly in emerging economies such as Brazil, China, and India. These practices, such as forced technology transfer or local production as a condition of market access, intellectual property (IP) theft, compulsory licensing of IP, restrictions on cross-border data flows, and currency manipulation, all distort trade and investment and damage the global economy. Collectively, these policies represent a major threat to the integrity of the global trading system and they demand a coherent and bold response from both free-trading nations such as the United States, as well as multilateral trade and development organizations, such as the World Bank, the WTO, and the United Nations. Despite this, many choose to turn a blind eye to mercantilism, for instance, the World Bank’s Temporary Trade Barriers Database 2013 Update asserts that protectionism may have peaked, and is now subsiding. ITIF refutes that c...