Robert David Atkinson (born November 22, 1954) is a

Canadian-American Canadian Americans is a term that can be applied to American citizens whose ancestry is wholly or partly Canadian, or citizens of either country that hold dual citizenship. The term ''Canadian'' can mean a nationality or an ethnicity. Canadian ...

economist. He is president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), a public policy

think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-govern ...

based in Washington, D.C., that promotes policies based on

innovation economics Innovation economics is new and growing field of economic theory and applied and experimental economics that emphasizes innovation and entrepreneurship. It comprises both the application of any type of innovations, especially technological, b ...

.Janet Rae-Dupree
Innovation Should Mean More Jobs, Not Less
New York Times, January 3, 2009 He was previously Vice President of the

Progressive Policy Institute The Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization that serves as a public policy think tank in the United States. The Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) founded it in 1989. '' The Washington Post'' has described ...

Early life

Atkinson was born in

Calgary, Alberta Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

, on November 22, 1954. He moved to the United States in 1962. He received a B.A. from

New College of Florida New College of Florida is a public liberal arts college in Sarasota, Florida. It was founded in 1960 as a private institution known simply as New College, spent several years merged into the University of South Florida, and in 2001 became an aut ...

in 1977, a master's degree in Urban and Regional Planning from the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc Nike, Inc. ( or ) is a ...

in 1985, and a Ph.D. in City and Regional Planning from the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United State ...

in 1989, where he was awarded the Joseph E. Pogue Fellowship.

Career

Atkinson worked as a program director at the

National Institute of Standards and Technology The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce whose mission is to promote American innovation and industrial competitiveness. NIST's activities are organized into physical s ...

(NIST) from 1989 to 1990. In 1990, he joined the now defunct Congressional

Office of Technology Assessment The Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) was an office of the United States Congress that operated from 1974 to 1995. OTA's purpose was to provide congressional members and committees with objective and authoritative analysis of the complex scie ...

, where he produced reports on the impact of

information technology Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve, and exchange all kinds of data . and information. IT forms part of information and communications technology (ICT). An information technology syste ...

on metropolitan areas and the impacts of environmental regulation and defense downsizing on the economy. From 1996 to 1997, he served as the first executive director of the Rhode Island Economic Policy Council. Atkinson became Vice President of the

(PPI) in 1997, where he directed its Technology and New Economy Project. In 2006, Atkinson left PPI and founded the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, which

Ars Technica ''Ars Technica'' is a website covering news and opinions in technology, science, politics, and society, created by Ken Fisher and Jon Stokes in 1998. It publishes news, reviews, and guides on issues such as computer hardware and software, sc ...

has described as "one of the leading, and most prolific, tech policy think tanks." In 2008, Atkinson was appointed by the Bush administration as chair of the National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission. In 2009, he advised the

Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

- Biden transition's NIST agency review and Technology, Innovation, and Government Reform teams, and in 2011 the Obama administration appointed him to the National Innovation and Competitiveness Strategy Advisory Board. Atkinson also serves as a nonresident senior fellow at the

Brookings Institution The Brookings Institution, often stylized as simply Brookings, is an American research group founded in 1916. Located on Think Tank Row in Washington, D.C., the organization conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in e ...

Awards and honors

*In 1996, Atkinson was named a Small Business Advocate of the Year by the U.S.

Small Business Administration The United States Small Business Administration (SBA) is an independent agency of the United States government that provides support to entrepreneurs and small businesses. The mission of the Small Business Administration is "to maintain and stre ...

. *In 1999, he was featured in Marquis' '' Who's Who in America''. *In 2002, he was awarded the Business Transformation Award Silver Medal by the

Wharton School The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania ( ; also known as Wharton Business School, the Wharton School, Penn Wharton, and Wharton) is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in ...

and

Infosys Infosys Limited is an Indian multinational information technology company that provides business consulting, information technology and outsourcing services. The company was founded in Pune and is headquartered in Bangalore. Infosys is ...

. *In 2002, he was honored as one of the "GT 25 Doers, Dreamers and Drivers" by ''

Government Technology ''Government Technology'' magazine is the flagship periodical of Folsom, California-based publishing company e.Republic Incorporated. The magazine contains editorial content about information technology in the public-sector, primarily in stat ...

'' magazine and the Center for Digital Government. *In 2006, he was listed among '' Inc.'' magazine's "Best Friends in D.C.: Thinkers." *In 2009, he was named one of Ars Technica's "Top Tech Policy People to Watch." *In 2011, '' Washingtonian'' magazine named him one of their "Tech Titans."

Books

*''The Past And Future of America's Economy: Long Waves of Innovation That Power Cycles of Growth'' (),

Edward Elgar Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, (; 2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestr ...

, 2005 *''Supply-Side Follies: Why Conservative Economics Fails, Liberal Economics Falters, and Innovation Economics is the Answer'' (),

Rowman & Littlefield Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group is an independent publishing house founded in 1949. Under several imprints, the company offers scholarly books for the academic market, as well as trade books. The company also owns the book distributing comp ...

, 2007 *''Innovation Economics: The Race for Global Advantage'' (),

Yale University Press Yale University Press is the university press of Yale University. It was founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day, and became an official department of Yale University in 1961, but it remains financially and operationally autonomous. , Yale Univers ...

, 2012 * ''Big Is Beautiful: Debunking the Myth of Small Business'' with Michael Lind, (), The MIT Press, 2018

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Atkinson, Robert D. Living people 1954 births People from Calgary 21st-century American economists New College of Florida alumni University of Oregon alumni University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni Canadian emigrants to the United States Information Technology and Innovation Foundation