Features

The pattern of dominant hi-tech companies isn’t an accident or the result of nefarious deeds; it reflects fundamental industry dynamics—and it has been hugely beneficial. Making sure these businesses remain American should be an overriding policy goal.

Access America Series, Episode 4: Jess talks to Brian Allenby, program operations and communications director for the Maine Connectivity Authority (MCA), about the state’s progress on BEAD and the challenge of serving rugged and remote communities.

Access America Series, Episode 3: Jess talks to Jake Varn, an associate manager with Pew’s broadband access initiative, about the “low-cost option” in BEAD, how states can implement it, and how it interacts with federal low-income broadband programs.

Access America Series, Episode 2: Jess discusses the challenges and opportunities of BEAD for the state of Michigan with Jessica Randall of Michigan’s broadband office.

Access America Series, Episode 1: Jess talks with Verizon’s Chris Oatway about the BEAD program’s cybersecurity requirements and whether they’re enough to keep new networks secure.

For a behind-the-scenes look at the U.S. government’s digital transformation process, Eric spoke with Leslie Casson Stevens—industry advisor for the U.S. federal market at SAP, an enterprise solution software provider. She discusses the processes and challenges of having federal agencies as customers and how funding tech in the government should change.

America’s imports from China look large because China is so large. But proportionally, they’re less than those from the other Asian tigers. America’s large trade deficit stems primarily from its lack of high-value manufacturing exports, not just to China but to the world.

ITIF and a global network of think tanks call on governments around the world to commit to a clear set of principles to ensure generative AI tools serve democratic ideals and promote global progress.

Defending Digital Series, No. 22: That digital technologies are a “threat to democracy” is now conventional wisdom, even though nontechnology factors have done much more to undermine America’s electoral confidence than anything digital. Unfortunately, today’s exaggerated electoral accusations have given additional life and power to the full range of dubious Big Tech critiques.

The reality is that if America does not do both—speed itself up, and slow China down—then it will likely lose the techno-economic race in the advanced, traded-sector industries that are most strategically important for the country’s dual-use industrial base and national security.