Commentary
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Setting the Policy Agenda on Innovation Issues
- Alongside our in-depth policy reports, ITIF’s long-running Innovation Files blog serves as a forum where analysts provide quick takes, quips, and commentary on the latest in technology and innovation policy.
- Other blogs from ITIF include In the Arena, Rob Atkinson’s notes on the battle of ideas (also on Substack at policyarena.org), plus special series, such as The Brussels Effect, examining how the EU exports its regulatory agenda; Defending Digital, examining spurious critiques of the tech industry; and Innovate4Health, covering the intersection between intellectual property and life sciences innovation.
- ITIF analysts also frequently contribute op-eds and commentary pieces to leading publications around the world.
January 26, 2026|Blogs
Fact of the Week: Pursuing Digital Sovereignty Could Cost Europe an Estimated $4.2T Over 10 Years
According to the Center for European Policy Analysis, digital sovereignty would conservatively cost the EU €3.6 trillion ($4.2 trillion) over 10 years.
January 22, 2026|Blogs
Declining Science and Engineering R&D in Higher Education Threatens US Competitiveness
U.S. higher education plays a central role in science and engineering R&D, yet investment in these fields has declined over the past decade. This erosion threatens the future of U.S. technological leadership and its ability to compete with China.
January 22, 2026|Blogs
Wireless Network Modernization Helps Reduce Harmful Emissions
Investment in 5G technologies creates immediate benefits for countries reliant on legacy networks and long-term benefits in more technologically advanced countries. Modern broadband technologies are more energy efficient and can help make other industries more sustainable.
January 22, 2026|Blogs
2026: The End of the Western Alliance and the Emergence of China
Davos made clear that many “allies” would rather denounce the United States and chase access to Chinese markets than bear the burdens required to sustain the Western alliance and democratic system.
January 22, 2026|Blogs
Internet Prices are Falling. Affordability Gaps are Fixable.
Claims that broadband service is becoming less affordable rely on selective data and abstract comparisons, while consumer-level price trends show the opposite—and point to targeted solutions to continue lowering prices for the average household.
January 22, 2026|Blogs
Trump Is Correct: European Nations Must Pay More for Innovative Drugs
Europe has long free-ridden on U.S. drug innovation—and while President Trump is right to push allies to pay their fair share, importing Europe’s price controls into the U.S. would undercut the very innovation the world depends on.
January 21, 2026|Blogs
Korea’s Proposed Fairness Act: Will It Discriminate Against American Firms?
The Korea Fair Trade Commission's past enforcement against U.S. technology firms justifies concerns that the proposed Fairness Act will reflect de facto discrimination against American commerce.
January 20, 2026|Blogs
Fact of the Week: Private-target M&As Have Heightened Expected Innovation Outcomes Versus Public Targets
A recent paper finds that mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in which a public company acquires a private company have more positive innovation outcomes than do public-public acquisitions.
January 17, 2026|Blogs
Cars, Canola, and the Country Canada Chooses to Be
Treating cars like canola is not strategy. Using industrial platforms as bargaining chips for commodity access risks locking Canada into a permanently resource-heavy economic structure, one in which manufacturing capacity cannot be easily rebuilt and its absence reshapes the economy for decades.
January 16, 2026|Blogs
Big Tech Is Not the “Main Enemy”: Techno-Nationalist Opposition to America Is Nothing New
In every wave of U.S. industrial leadership, other nations have attacked American multinationals, especially tech firms, for blatantly protectionist reasons.
