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

Canadian-American Canadian Americans () are Citizenship of the United States, American citizens or in some uses residents whose ancestry is wholly or partly Canadians, Canadian, or citizens of either country who hold dual citizenship. Today, many Canadian American ...

economist. He is president of the

Information Technology and Innovation Foundation The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) is a U.S. nonprofit public policy think tank based in Washington, D.C., focused on public policy surrounding industry and technology. , the University of Pennsylvania ranks ITIF as the ...

(ITIF), a public policy

think tank A think tank, or public 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-governme ...

based in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, that promotes policies based on

innovation economics Innovation economics is a growing field of economic theory and applied/ experimental economics that emphasizes innovation and entrepreneurship. It comprises both the application of any type of innovations, especially technological but not only, ...

.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 the ...

Early life and education

Atkinson was born in

Calgary, Alberta Calgary () is a major city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a Metropolitan area, metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the List of ...

, 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 university, public liberal arts college in Sarasota, Florida, United States. The college is a member of the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges. New College has the smallest student enrollment in the State U ...

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 university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...

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

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public university, public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolli ...

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 Outline of p ...

(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 scien ...

, where he produced reports on the impact of

information technology Information technology (IT) is a set of related fields within information and communications technology (ICT), that encompass computer systems, software, programming languages, data processing, data and information processing, and storage. Inf ...

on metropolitan areas and the impacts of

environmental regulation Environmental laws are laws that protect the environment. The term "environmental law" encompasses treaties, statutes, regulations, conventions, and policies designed to protect the natural environment and manage the impact of human activitie ...

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, sci ...

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-

Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

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 Brookings, is an American think tank that conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in economics (and tax policy), metropolitan policy, governance, foreign policy, global econo ...

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 str ...

. *In 1999, he was featured in Marquis' ''

Who's Who in America Marquis Who's Who, also known as A.N. Marquis Company ( or ), is an American publisher of a number of directories containing short biographies. The books usually are entitled ''Who's Who in...'' followed by some subject, such as ''Who's Who in A ...

''. *In 2002, he was awarded the Business Transformation Award Silver Medal by the

Wharton School The Wharton School ( ) is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia. Established in 1881 through a donation from Joseph Wharton, a co-founder of Bethlehem Steel, the Wharton ...

and

Infosys Infosys Limited is an Indian multinational corporation, multinational technology company that offers business consulting, information technology, and outsourcing services. Founded in 1981 in Pune, the company is headquartered in Bengaluru. On ...

. *In 2002, he was honored as one of the "GT 25 Doers, Dreamers and Drivers" by '' Government Technology'' 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 American independent academic publishing company founded in 1949. Under several imprints, the company offers scholarly books for the academic market, as well as trade books. The company also owns ...

, 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 Clarence Day, grandsons of Benjamin Day, and became a department of Yale University in 1961, but it remains financially and ope ...

, 2012 * ''Big Is Beautiful: Debunking the Myth of Small Business'' with

Michael Lind Michael Lind (born April 23, 1962) is an American writer and academic. He has explained and defended the tradition of American democratic nationalism in a number of books, beginning with ''The Next American Nation: The New Nationalism and the Fou ...

, (),

The MIT Press The MIT Press is the university press of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The MIT Press publishes a number of academic journals and has been a pioneer in the Open Ac ...

, 2018 * ''Technology Fears and Scapegoats: 40 Myths about Privacy, Jobs, AI, and Today’s Innovation Economy'' with David Moschella, (),

Palgrave Macmillan Palgrave Macmillan is a British academic and trade publishing company headquartered in the London Borough of Camden. Its programme includes textbooks, journals, monographs, professional and reference works in print and online. It maintains offi ...

, 2024

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