Innovation Files: Where Tech Meets Public Policy

The past few years have seen a remarkable rise in the quality and quantity of deepfakes. Rob and Jackie discussed the rise of deepfakes with Ryan Long, Vice-Chairman of the California Lawyers Association, Licensing and Technology Transactions Group, Intellectual Property Section, and explored how to harness this technology responsibly while preventing abuse. Mentioned The Age of AI: And Our Human FutureThe Man Who Saved the World by Doing Absolutely NothingRelated Joe Biden Did Not Approve This Fake MessageBlame Lawmakers, Not AI, for Failing to Prevent the Fake Explicit Images of Taylor Swift

The term ‘supply chain’ is relatively new, but the activities involved are not as new as we think. Rob and Jackie sat down with Yossi Sheffi, Director of the MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics, to discuss the complex history of supply chains and how technology and AI will continue to evolve supply chain processes in the future. Mentioned The Magic Conveyor Belt: Supply Chains, A.I., and the Future of WorkRelated Transforming Global Trade and Development With Digital Technologies

Amidst the burgeoning advancements in autonomous vehicles (AVs), striking a balance between expectation and reality emerges as a challenge. Rob and Jackie sat down with Richard Mudge, president and founder of Compass Transportation and Technology, to discuss how innovations in the world of AVs can affect safety, productivity, and job creation. Mentioned I-94 Connected & Automated Vehicle (CAV) Corridor Proposed ProjectRelated Logic, Not Emotions, Should Guide Autonomous Vehicle Deployment

While quantum computing technology is maturing more slowly than other innovations, its potential is vast. Rob and Jackie sat down with Murray Thom, vice president of product management at D-Wave, to discuss quantum computing applications already being put into place, and possible advancements in the future. Mentioned The U.S. Approach to Quantum PolicyText - H.R.6227 - 115th Congress (2017-2018): National Quantum Initiative ActRelated Quantum Computing: The Case for a National Task ForceWhat Should Congress Include in The Next National Quantum Initiative Act?

Used to its full potential, artificial intelligence (AI) can assist employees, improve interactions with customers, and increase efficiency. Rob and Jackie sat down with Nitin Mittal, a principal with Deloitte Consulting, to discuss how AI is being used to enhance work environments. Mentioned All-in On AI: How Smart Companies Win Big with Artificial IntelligenceState of AI in the Enterprise, 5th edition reportRelated Tech Panics, Generative AI, and the Need for Regulatory Caution

Forced local data storage requirements are at the heart of both digital protectionism and digital authoritarianism. Rob and Jackie sat down with Nigel Cory, associate director covering trade policy at ITIF, to discuss how data localization reduces trade, slows productivity, and increases prices. Related How the G7 Can Use ‘Data Free Flow With Trust’ to Build Global Data GovernanceUSTR Tai’s Justification to Take a Time-out on Digital Trade Does Not Hold Up

To flourish, innovation hubs need the right combination of talent, tech, funding, and market access. Rob and Jackie sat down with Jessica Corrigan, the director of M&T's Tech Academy, to discuss how smaller regions can become powerful innovation ecosystems. Mentioned Comments to the Commerce Department Regarding Implementation of the Regional Technology and Innovation Hub ProgramRelated At M&T Bank, modernization and talent strategies intersect in the cloudUnderstanding the U.S. National Innovation System, 2020

There is a troubling chasm between trade policy and competition policy. Rob and Jackie sat down with Alden Abbott, senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center, and Shanker Singham, one of the world's leading international trade and competition economists, to discuss how to bridge the gap between barriers at the border and conditions of competition inside the border. Mentioned Trade, Competition and Domestic Regulatory PolicyThe Bayh-Dole Act’s Vital Importance to the U.S. Life-Sciences Innovation System

China has had a dismissive attitude about its obligations as a member of World Trade Organization (WTO) ever since it joined the organization. Rob and Jackie sat down with Dennis Shea, executive director of the J. Ronald Terwilliger Center for Housing Policy, to discuss how China’s current non-market economic system is simply incompatible with WTO norms. Mentioned China’s Trade-Disruptive Economic Model and the Implications for the WTO2022 Report to Congress On China’s WTO ComplianceHow China’s Mercantilist Policies Have Undermined Global Innovation in the Telecom Equipment IndustryFalse Promises II: The Continuing Gap Between China’s WTO Commitments and Its Practices

Export controls exist at the perilous intersection of economic policy and national security. What could go wrong? Rob and Jackie sat down with Kevin Wolf, a partner at Akin Gump, to discuss how to strike the right balance between keeping certain advanced technologies away from adversarial militaries without locking U.S. firms out of global markets. Related Export Controls Shrink the Global Markets U.S. Semiconductors Need to SurviveHow Stringent Export Controls on Emerging Technologies Would Harm the U.S. Economy

Policy regarding new technologies can be reactionary, confused, and focused on the wrong things. Rob and Jackie sat down with Patrick Grady, former policy analyst at ITIF’s Center for Data Innovation, to discuss what the European Union’s policymaking process can teach us about regulating emerging tech. Mentioned: Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council Laying Down Harmonised Rules on Artificial IntelligenceRelated" The AI Act Should Be Technology-NeutralRestoring US Leadership on Digital Policy

Counterfeiting—one of the oldest, simplest crimes—has only continued to evolve as technology has grown more complex. Rob and Jackie sat down with Kebharu Smith, director of Amazon's Counterfeit Crimes Unit and Associate General Counsel, to talk about how counterfeiting negatively impacts business, taxes, intellectual property, and innovation itself. Mentioned Best Practices to Combat Online Sale of Counterfeits in the EU and USRelated How Data-Sharing Partnerships Can Thwart Counterfeits on Online Marketplaces

Over the past 150 years, humanity has generated an unprecedented amount and variety of information, surpassing the cumulative knowledge of previous eras. Rob and Jackie sat down with Jim Cortada, a senior research fellow at the Charles Babbage Institute at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities to talk about how information shapes society. Mentioned Birth of Modern Facts: How the Information Revolution Transformed Academic Research, Governments, and BusinessesData Cartels: The Companies That Control and Monopolize Our InformationRelated We Shouldn’t Ask Technologists To Be Arbiters of ‘Truth’

Looking ahead to the technological challenges and opportunities of the next decade, social trust will be more important than ever for the tech industry. Rob and Jackie sat down with David Moschella, a nonresident senior fellow at ITIF and the author of ITIF’s “Defending Digital” series, to discuss how a lack of societal trust harms the U.S. innovation system. Mentioned Digital Innovation Isn’t Undermining Societal Trust; It’s the Other Way AroundRelated Groupthink Is To Blame for Recent TikTok BansTech Panics, Generative AI, and the Need for Regulatory Caution

A data-driven world raises the stakes for numeric literacy. Rob and Jackie sit down with George Sciadas, the former director of the Statistics Canada Center for Special Business Projects and author of the new book Number Savvy, to discuss the past, present, and future of data in society. Mentioned Number Savvy: From the Invention of Numbers to the Future of DataSprawlball: A Visual Tour of the New Era of the NBA

America can’t just pick up speed to beat China economically; it needs to slow down China, because there’s no use in accelerating when your adversary is along for the ride. Rob and Jackie sat down with Jonathan Ward, author of China’s Vision of Victory, to discuss where things stand in innovation and technology, and how the U.S. can maintain its position as the world’s largest and most sophisticated economy. Mentioned The Decisive Decade: American Grand Strategy for Triumph Over China, China’s Vision of Victory: A Guide to the Global Grand Strategy of the Chinese Government, Related Wake Up, America: China Is Overtaking the United States in Innovation CapacityThree Cheers for the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022! Now, Let’s Get Back to Work

To improve quality of life for as many people as possible, the places to start are cities. Rob and Jackie sat down with multiple award-winning technology and business leader Jonathan Reichental to discuss why the United States is falling behind other countries in the “smart city” movement and why it matters in a data-driven world. Mentioned Data Governance for Dummies.Smart Cities for Dummies.“New Urban Mechanics.”boston.govRelated “Balancing Privacy and Innovation in Smart Cities and Communities”, “How Congress and the Biden Administration Could Jumpstart Smart Cities With AI”

Google doesn’t create terrorist propaganda videos, doesn’t allow them on YouTube, and takes them down as fast as it can when extremist groups post them anyway. But a question now before the Supreme Court is whether Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act protects Google and other platform operators from liability if their algorithms end up spreading harmful content. To parse the potential ramifications, Rob and Jackie sat down with Senior Policy Analyst Ashley Johnson, one of ITIF’s resident experts on Internet policy issues such as privacy, security, and platform regulation. Mentioned A Policymaker’s Guide to the ‘Techlash’—What It Is and Why It’s a Threat to Growth and ProgressRelated If the Supreme Court Limits Section 230, It Will Change the Way the Internet FunctionsSection 230 Still Isn’t the Solution to Conservative Claims of Social Media Censorship

Semiconductors are arguably the most important core technology in the modern world. You can’t fully understand the current state of politics, economics, or technology until you consider the role they play. Rob and Jackie sat down with economic historian Chris Miller to discuss the extent to which microchips are the new oil. Mentioned Chip War: The Fight for the World's Most Critical TechnologyRemarks by National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan at the Special Competitive Studies Project Global Emerging Technologies SummitRelated Computer Chips vs. Potato Chips: The Case for a U.S. Strategic-Industry Policy.

Teaching students to combine basic ideas to solve novel, difficult problems is imperative to lay a foundation for STEM pursuits. Rob and Jackie sat down with Richard Rusczyk, founder of the Art of Problem Solving Initiative, coauthor of the original Art of Problem Solving books, and cofounder of the Mandelbrot Problem Solving Competition. Mentioned Art of Problem SolvingRefueling the U.S. Innovation Economy: Fresh Approaches to STEM Education