Regions
United Kingdom
December 2, 2024
The New UK Data Bill Is Good but It Could Be Much Better
The UK’s new Data (Use and Access) Bill aims to enable AI and data-driven services, reviving parts of the previous DPDI Bill. To seize post-EU opportunities, it should adopt provisions tightening personal data definitions and aligning government-ICO priorities.
November 25, 2024
Digital Transformation Should Be at the Heart of the UK’s Economic Agenda
The UK stands at a critical moment when embracing digital transformation, AI, and data innovation is not just an opportunity but also a necessity. By implementing forward-thinking policies, the UK can not only drive economic growth but also position itself as a global leader in emerging technologies.
November 18, 2024
Key Facts Missing in the Creative Community’s Statement on Unlicensed AI Training
Thousands of creators signed a statement opposing AI's unlicensed use of creative works, calling it a threat to livelihoods. But this overlooks that AI training uses public data within established norms, creators resist adapting to change, and copyright already protects against unauthorised use.
November 13, 2024
Comments to the UK’s Department for Business and Trade Regarding the Modern Industrial Strategy Green Paper
The UK government needs to make a choice: competitiveness and growth or heavy-handed regulation in the service of social policy. It can have one but not both.
September 17, 2024
Comments to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology on the AI Opportunities Action Plan
AI presents a wealth of opportunity for the UK, not only as an economy boosting mechanism, but also as a tool for improving the lives of UK citizens. AI adoption is key to the Action Plan, and the government should take actions that can simultaneously support AI sector growth and AI adoption.
Canada
October 15, 2024
Why Canada Doesn’t Need Another Broadband Provider
Canadian telecommunications policy under successive governments has taken for granted that the domestic industry suffers an inadequate supply of market participants. But that assumption is unmoored from reality on various fronts.
October 2, 2024
Canadian Businesses Are Not Profiteering
Big Canadian telcos, grocery stores, and banks have not seen major changes in profitability over the past four years or compared to their international peers. Rising prices should not be attributed to “price gouging” but plain old inflation.
September 13, 2024
Comments to Canada’s Office of the Privacy Commissioner Regarding Age Assurance and Privacy
Age assurances are not the only available option to protect children online. But if policymakers are set on mandating age assurance systems, regulation should be limited to high-risk circumstances, avoid inflexible requirements, and be designed to be technologically and commercially agnostic.
September 3, 2024
A Techno-Economic Agenda for Canada’s Next Federal Government
Innovation, productivity, and competitiveness must be top priorities for Canada’s next federal government, not sidenotes or vague aspirations to be addressed with little more than lip service.
July 26, 2024
Comments to Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada Regarding Legislated Procurement Targets for SMEs
Legislated procurement targets for SMEs should be a tool to stimulate technology R&D and commercialize Canadian innovations, and not a goal in and of itself. Focusing on firms that develop innovative solutions for government problems will create opportunities for Canadian firms to scale up and drive innovation, productivity, and competitiveness.
Africa
September 16, 2024
Fact of the Week: AI Rice Farming Technology in Nigeria Reduces Water Use by 30 Percent
A new irrigation technology incorporating AI sensors reduces water use by 30 percent and methane emissions by 47 percent compared to continuous irrigation methods.
June 11, 2024
Comments to Kenya’s Competition Authority Regarding the Draft Competition (Amendment) Bill, 2024
Proposed changes to Kenya’s competition regime will hinder, not help its digital economy. Rather than impose substantial changes based on the false premise that digital markets require special treatment, Kenya should use existing enforcement tools to police its growing digital markets.
August 19, 2019
Comments to the U.S. International Trade Commission Regarding the Digital Economy and Trade in Sub-Saharan Africa
ITIF’s submission focuses on the ITC’s interest in recent developments in the digital economy for key SSA markets, including national and regional regulatory and policy measures and market conditions that affect digital trade.
May 6, 2019
Fact of the Week: Ethiopian Youth Given $300 Start-up Grants at Random had 36 Percent Higher Wages After One Year, But No Effect After Five Years
When attempting to evaluate the effect that a policy intervention can have on development or innovation, researchers and policymakers routinely look to short-term impacts, both out of urgency and because of the difficulty in maintaining contact with participants over several years.
October 22, 2018
Fact of the Week: Adoption of Mobile Money in Kenya Lifted 194,000 Households Out of Extreme Poverty
Over the last decade, mobile money services have brought banking to populations that have lacked formal financial services by allowing users to manage money on their mobile phones. First launched in Kenya in 2007, 96 percent of Kenyan households now use mobile money and can withdraw funds in physical currency from 110,000 agents across the country.
Asia-Pacific
November 19, 2024
Social Media Ban for Children Is a Step Backward for Australia
Blocking an entire age group from social media uses a regulatory sledgehammer instead of a scalpel to address complex and evolving online safety issues. It ignores the benefits of social media for young people and the pitfalls of age-verification rules.
November 15, 2024
US-India Subnational Innovation Competitiveness Index
For policymakers to bolster the global competitiveness of their nations and regions, they first must know where they stand. This report benchmarks the 87 regions of India and the United States using 13 commonly available indicators of strength in the knowledge economy, globalization, and innovation capacity.
November 11, 2024
Fact of the Week: Robot Adoption in Nursing Homes Is Positively Correlated With Productivity, Revenue, and Quality of Care
Nursing homes are notorious for worker shortages, which worsens the quality of care for patients and the work environment for employees. Japanese nursing homes have begun deploying robots to address these problems.
September 20, 2024
Advancing US-Japan Economic Security Partnership and Countering Chinese Economic Coercion
The United States and Japan must make a concerted effort to mutually advance their economic security and counter Chinese economic coercion, while bringing other allied nations aboard the enterprise to the greatest extent possible.
September 3, 2024
Comments to Japan’s Fair Trade Commission Regarding the Smartphone Software Competition Promotion Act
The SSCP’s broad per se prohibitions and limited cybersecurity exemption are likely to chill the very innovative behavior that is key to allowing Japan’s smartphone markets to thrive, and risk targeting a leading firm of one of its closest allies.
China
October 18, 2024
Fact of the Week: Tensions Have Led to a 3.7 Percent Decline in the Probability of Chinese Students Enrolling in a US PhD Program
Since 2015, the number of Chinese students enrolling in U.S. PhD programs has decreased by about 3.7 percent, while the probability a Chinese student will enroll in a PhD program in another English-speaking country, such as the UK, Australia, or Canada, has increased by 2.1 percent.
October 8, 2024
How to Win Techno-Economic Competition with China
It is often said that the Chinese economy cannot innovate. This is a dangerous assumption.
September 24, 2024
Testimony to the US House Oversight Committee: Defending America From the Chinese Communist Party’s Political Warfare, Part III
The best way for U.S. policymakers to think about China, at least in the realm of technology and industry, is that we are engaged in a form of war: China is seeking to defeat the United States on the techno-economic battlefield.
September 23, 2024
We Need an Allied Effort to Establish New Global Manufacturing Hubs to Compete With China
China accounted for 35 percent of global manufacturing as of 2023. The United States and Western allies should launch a global competition to establish competing manufacturing hubs in countries that commit to reforming restrictive regulations, reducing corruption, boosting skill development, and ensuring adequate financial incentives and infrastructure.
September 23, 2024
Why Is the EU So Reticent About Challenging Beijing?
The European Union needs to pay a short-term price for long-term gain by standing alongside the United States in taking tough action to hold China accountable for its IP theft, dumping, and over-subsidizing.
Europe
November 1, 2024
Who Is the New Vestager? EU Names Teresa Ribera as Competition Commissioner
While it remains uncertain what Ribera’s tenure will bring, early signs indicate she could drag sustainability into competition policy and pursue an unacceptable double standard of pushing European firms to grow while singling out American ones for aggressive enforcement.
November 1, 2024
Comments to the European Commission Regarding Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union
Unfortunately, new proposed guidelines for enforcing against abusive exclusionary conduct untether liability from likely harms to competition and consumer welfare.
October 21, 2024
Go to the Mattresses: It’s Time to Reset U.S.-EU Tech and Trade Relations
In its bid for tech sovereignty, the EU has been aggressively targeting U.S. firms and industries with unfair protectionist policies. This cannot stand. To move forward into a new era of deeper transatlantic trade integration, America must first demand a level playing field.
October 9, 2024
Europe Might Wrap the Tech Industry in Even More Red Tape
Europe needs to pump the brakes on new regulations before it can properly assess the long-term effects of the GDPR, DSA, DMA, and AI Act.
October 4, 2024
Draghi Wants to Have His Drug Cake and Eat It Too
Mario Draghi's 2024 report addresses the EU's biopharmaceutical decline, citing challenges like underfunded research, fragmented pricing, and competition from the U.S. and China. It recommends reforms but underplays the impact of EU drug price controls on innovation.
Global
November 21, 2024
US Connectivity Investments Dwarf the Rest of the OECD
Private ISPs have invested the equivalent of 2 BEAD programs every year since the BEAD statute was enacted.
November 14, 2024
GTIPA Perspectives: The Vital Importance of Digital Inclusivity for Global Economic Growth
Information and communications technology (ICT) is driving global economic growth and economic opportunity. Many countries are taking effective steps to deploy digital infrastructure, enhance citizens’ digital skills and literacy, empower women and disabled citizens to leverage digital tools, and helping small- and medium-sized enterprises take advantage of digital technologies.
September 23, 2024
We Need an Allied Effort to Establish New Global Manufacturing Hubs to Compete With China
China accounted for 35 percent of global manufacturing as of 2023. The United States and Western allies should launch a global competition to establish competing manufacturing hubs in countries that commit to reforming restrictive regulations, reducing corruption, boosting skill development, and ensuring adequate financial incentives and infrastructure.
August 28, 2024
Alzheimer’s Disease Next Game Changer: TauRx Pharmaceutical’s Novel Tau Aggregation Inhibitor
TauRx is revolutionizing Alzheimer's treatment with a novel drug that targets toxic brain proteins, offering fresh hope in the fight against this devastating disease.
August 16, 2024
Innovative Cure For All: How CurASeal’s Plant-Based Technology Advances Bleeding Control and Wound Healing
InCurA is revolutionizing MENA's medical landscape with AI-optimized, locally produced hemostatic solutions like CurASeal, bridging the gap between innovation and accessibility while reducing reliance on global imports.
Latin America
July 15, 2024
Comments to Brazil’s National Data Protection Authority Regarding Processing of Personal Data of Children and Adolescents
A combination of privacy-protective age verification systems utilizing digital forms of identification and AI, parental controls that are readily available and easy to use, and greater transparency from digital platforms would increase children’s safety and privacy, encourage innovation in improved safety and privacy controls, and better inform policymakers and parents on next steps to protect children.
June 7, 2024
Mexico, Maize, and Food Sovereignty
Mexico's newly elected president, Claudia Sheinbaum, can reverse President Andrés Manuel López Obrador's anti-innovation policies toward genetically modified maize, and improve the lives of small farmers across Mexico.
May 15, 2024
Assessing University-Industry Research Attention in Latin America and the Caribbean
The current scope of University-Industry (U-I) collaboration in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) opens opportunities for research to progress in innovative directions.
May 13, 2024
Comments to Brazil’s National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) Regarding Digital Markets and Competition
Regulation in the digital sector should only be necessary to remedy market failure that cannot be addressed by the current legal framework, which simply is not true.
May 2, 2024
Comments to Brazil’s Finance Ministry Regarding Digital Markets Regulation
As Brazil crafts its own Digital Markets Act in the mold of the EU’s, it should be aware of the potential shortcomings and unsubstantiated advantages associated with such wide-ranging economic regulation within the digital market landscape.