Report: U.S. falls to sixth in innovation-based competitiveness

A new report from a Speed Matters partner, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, found that the United States ranked sixth among 40 nations and regions in innovation-based economic competitiveness. Most troubling, the ITIF report found that the United States has made the least progress among all 40 nations studied in improvement toward the new knowledge-based innovation economy.

The report, “The Atlantic Century; Benchmarking EU and U.S. Innovation and Competitiveness,” used 16 indicators, including e-government broadband telecommunications, corporate investment in IT, and corporate investment in research and development, to measure how much progress nations have made on an innovation agenda since 2000.

ITIF argues that Washington D.C. policymakers became complacent in the belief that the United States would always be the world leader in innovation - allowing the country to proceed without a coherent national economic development or competitiveness strategy for the past decade.

The report suggests a series of policies the U.S. must pursue to turn around the decline in innovation competitiveness, including “fostering a digital economy.” The report says:

“Today, economic success depends in significant part on how effectively nations incorporate information technology into all aspects of their economy and society. To do so, nations should not only expand public investments in IT in areas such as health care, energy systems, transportation, government and education, but also put in place the right regulatory frameworks to spur, not limit, digital investment. It also means that nations need to consider how existing regulatory and public procurement policies can be redesigned to intentionally spur digital transformation.”

The Atlantic Century: Benchmarking EU & US Innovation and Competitiveness (ITIF)

New ITIF report finds U.S. ranks last among 40 nations and regions in progress toward an innovation-based economy (eGov Monitor)