Sharpening America’s Innovative Edge

October 16, 2020

The CSIS Trade Commission on Affirming American Leadership was created in the summer of 2019 to develop a series of recommendations to cement U.S. global leadership in light of a multitude of twenty-first-century challenges, both at home and abroad. In a series of reports, the commission lays out recommendations for the U.S. workforce, U.S. innovation policy, and U.S. engagement in the international trading system. This report, which is the third of four reports to be released from the commission, focuses on the U.S. innovation policy. This report recommends seven elements of a national technology strategy, organized in three lines of effort: investing in innovation; protecting critical technologies; and championing data governance. If adopted, these recommendations would sharpen the U.S. innovative edge and position the country for long-term leadership.