State and Local

Smart city technology could modernize local government services and improve residents’ quality of life. To reap these benefits and maintain public trust, cities and communities need to balance the interests of innovation and privacy.

To improve quality of life for as many people as possible, the places to start are cities. Rob and Jackie sat down with multiple award-winning technology and business leader Jonathan Reichental to discuss why the United States is falling behind other countries in the “smart city” movement and why it matters in a data-driven world.

As the think tank that first proposed the policy idea of a federal regional technology hub program, ITIF enthusiastically supports the program and is pleased to offer comments to help the Commerce Department implement it effectively.

Tax incentives for research and development (R&D) in America are less generous than in comparable countries—and now prevent firms from expensing the full value of R&D investments in the first year. Enhancing R&D tax incentives would create high-paying jobs across the country.

Louisiana’s new age verification law, which requires websites that host “material harmful to children” to verify the age of their users, should raise red flags for those concerned about safety and speech online. Allowing one state to dictate online rules will likely lead to 50 different standards, creating a byzantine patchwork of digital rules for businesses and consumers.

Innovation ecosystems are increasingly complex and diverse, but there are common markers of core strength. This visualization benchmarks 96 states and regions across Germany, Italy, the United States, and Canada.

Innovation ecosystems are increasingly complex and diverse, but there are common markers of core strength. In this report, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, the German Economic Institute, the Institute for Competitiveness, and the Macdonald-Laurier Institute benchmark 96 states and regions across Germany, Italy, the United States, and Canada.

Stephen Ezell presented findings from ITIF’s “North American Subnational Innovation Competitiveness Index” report at a webinar hosted by the Association of University Research Parks.

Industrial robot concentration is especially high in Michigan, where 39.5 percent of manufacturing employees had exposure to them in 2019.

Michigan’s growth is indicative of a more general geographic dispersion of VC dollars.