Reports & Briefings

A survey among 32 think tank members of the Global Trade and Innovation Policy Alliance (GTIPA) across 25 countries finds strong optimism about technological progress, but much less confidence in the global policy environment. Respondents are bullish on emerging technologies and skeptical of recent trade changes, and broadly favor skills and trade openness.

For policymakers to bolster the global competitiveness and innovation capacity of their regions, they must first understand their regions’ strengths and weaknesses. This report—by 11 think tanks from the Global Trade and Innovation Policy Alliance (GTIPA)—benchmarks 213 regions of 13 transatlantic countries using 14 commonly available innovation indicators.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is the general-purpose technology of this decade, and possibly even this century, with impacts predicted to be as deep and diffuse as electricity and the Internet. As with other general-purpose technologies in their nascent stages, much still remains uncertain regarding AI’s capacity and direction. This report provides GTIPA members’ perspectives the state of innovation policy on AI around the world, compiling 32 vignettes from 28 think tanks in 30 countries.

Heavy dependence on Chinese APIs creates risks to the drug supply and national security. To reduce dependence, U.S. policy should support domestic and allied production through the advanced manufacturing innovation, tax incentives, import limits, regulatory reforms, improved analysis, and targeted procurement, including strategic stockpiling.

Policymakers are rushing to regulate AI chatbots. But they should carefully weigh the best approaches to enable safe usage while meaningfully protecting children from harm.

The era of free trade globalization is over. To replace it, the United States should lead a new class of binding deals with allies, with a dual objective of strengthening allied national economic power industries and weakening China’s.

Canada should significantly expand commercialization-focused grant programs through the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and increase Canada’s overall health science research investments to a scale commensurate with global competition.

Canada funds university research but gives universities too little reason to turn that into Canadian firms, patents, and industrial capacity. To better align their incentives with national goals, funding should flow in part on standardized commercialization outcomes, with universities left to decide how to deliver them.

The USMCA is the operating system for North American production, investment, talent, and digital commerce. Canada, Mexico, and the United States should renew the agreement and explore ways to update it to preserve certainty, deepen regional supply chains and innovation capabilities, and strengthen the continent’s ability to compete with China.

Technology exists, and policy instruments are available, to develop a new, state-led model of water governance for data centers and other large industrial users. What’s missing is institutional coordination, regulatory specificity, and a set of standardized mechanisms and metrics.