Information Technology and Innovation Foundation

The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) is a U.S. non-profit public policy think tank based out of Washington, D.C. The organization focuses on public policies that spur technology innovation.^[1] Robert D. Atkinson is the President of ITIF.^[2]

History

ITIF was established as an independent organization in 2006 with former House members Republican Jennifer Dunn and Democrat Calvin Dooley as co-chairs.^[3] In 2008, Inc. magazine referred to the organization as "scrupulously nonpartisan."^[4] In 2009, Ars Technica wrote that ITIF is "one of the leading, and most prolific, tech policy think tanks."^[5] At an ITIF event in February 2011, U.S. Federal Communications Commission chairman Julius Genachowski announced the agency's plans for Universal Service reform.^[6] As of December 2011, Nancy Johnson and Vic Fazio, two former Members of Congress, co-chair the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation. Senator Orrin Hatch, Senator Mark Warner, Representative Ron Kind and Representative Darrell Issa currently serve as honorary co-chairs of ITIF.^[7]

Mission

ITIF's stated mission is to promote new ways of thinking about technology-driven productivity, competitiveness and globalization.^[8] The newspaper Roll Call described ITIF as trying to "navigate the ideological waters to promote government support for innovation in many forms and with a broad range of ideals."^[9] ITIF has called for the United States government to implement a national manufacturing strategy to combat job losses and the trade deficit which they attribute to declining international competitiveness.^[10][11] They have criticized the Chinese government for behaviors they label "innovation mercantilism" including standards manipulation and intellectual property theft.^[12] In Internet policy, ITIF opposes stringent net neutrality legislation, arguing that it would stifle Internet innovation, and has praised both the U.S. and the European Union "open Internet" rulings.^[13][14][15] For similar reasons, they have supported legislation aimed at curtailing Internet piracy, stirring some controversy when they argued that data caps on Internet usage would be an effective anti-piracy tool.^[16][17] Along with the Breakthrough Institute, ITIF has called for increased public funding for clean energy innovation, arguing that the United States is falling behind countries like China, Japan and South Korea.^[18]

Publications

ITIF publishes the State New Economy Index, which measures how much U.S. states’ economies are driven by knowledge and innovation.^[19] They published The Atlantic Century, which ranks countries on their competitiveness and innovative capacity and has been cited by FCC chairman Julius Genachowski, U.S. Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra, and CNN's Fareed Zakaria.^[20][21][22] ITIF has published several reports advocating greater deployment of information technologies.^[23][24][25] Some of these have been greeted with skepticism given ITIF’s supporters in the technology industry. For example, in their report Digital Prosperity, ITIF found that IT delivered three to five times the productivity growth of other types of investments. Commenting on the study, former Dean of Wisconsin School of Business Michael Knetter warned of potential bias, although he did not dispute the productivity benefits of IT.^[26] In reviewing ITIF's report, "Digital Road to Recovery," which called on the Obama administration to allocate stimulus money to broadband deployment, health IT, and smart grid technology, Ars Technica stated that it "should ... be expected to contain a healthy dose of self-interest, but that won't necessarily mean that its conclusions are wrong.”^[27]

Funding and support

At its founding in 2006, ITIF’s principal backer was the Information Technology Industry Council (ITI), a trade association whose members include many of the largest IT companies.^[28] In 2007, ITIF’s research was supported by technology companies such as IBM, Cisco and eBay, labor unions such as the Communications Workers of America, as well as foundation grants.^[29] In 2011, ITIF's board included representatives from Apple, Cisco, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Intel, ITI, Oracle, Microsoft, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and Verisign, as well as representatives from universities such as the University of Colorado at Boulder, University of Pennsylvania, and MIT.^[30] ITIF has received grants from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, and the Nathan Cummings Foundation since its founding.^[31][32][33]

References

External links

• ITIF - The Information Technology & Innovation Foundation
• The Innovation Policy Blog