A think tank for accelerating scientific, technological, and industrial progress
The US is the R&D lab for the world and we should act like it
American science and technology are the best in the world, but they rest on a fragile foundation. Slow productivity growth, sclerotic institutions, and growing international competition have revealed fault lines in our innovation ecosystem. The Institute for Progress (IFP) focuses on pragmatic policy reforms that drive breakthrough discoveries, attract top talent, and expand our nation’s capacity to build.
Metascience
How can we change the incentives within science to produce more breakthrough research?
High-Skilled Immigration
How can we attract and retain superstar talent from around the globe?
Biotechnology
How can we prevent future pandemics and accelerate progress in the life sciences?
Infrastructure
How can we make it easier to build things in the world of atoms?
Emerging Technology
How can we shape the frontier of technological development and deployment?
Spotlight research
Infrastructure
Stop Paying More for Less Transit
Fifteen ideas to bring costs down and speed projects up
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Biotechnology
How to Secure the DNA Supply Chain
A field guide for policymakers, founders, and funders
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Emerging Technology
A Speed-for-Security Bargain for AI Data Centers
FERC can accelerate interconnection and harden the grid
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Emerging Technology
What Will It Cost for the US to Be Ready for the Next Big AI Breakthrough?
Estimating the resources CAISI needs to deliver on American AI readiness
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Infrastructure
A Pro-Supply To-Do List for Congress’s Housing Bill
America can’t afford a lowest-common-denominator housing supply bill
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Featured projects
Factory Settings
by Mike Schmidt, Todd Fisher, and Sara Meyers
Factory Settings is a publication by the former senior leadership of the CHIPS Program Office. Factory Settings is about building in two senses of the word: Building capacity within government, and building production capacity in the US for critical industries. Drawing on their firsthand experience implementing the CHIPS Act, the team shares lessons learned about strengthening state capacity and executing industrial policy.
Statecraft
by Santi Ruiz
Statecraft is an interview series about how policymakers actually get things done. Once a week, IFP Senior Editor Santi Ruiz interviews top federal appointees, civil servants, and policy entrepreneurs about how they achieved a particular policy goal.
Read more recent publications
Infrastructure
Loans Can Stabilize Transit Funding
Consistent and predictable funding builds state capacity
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Infrastructure
Let Agencies Do Their Own Environmental Review
Allowing self-certification will accelerate project delivery
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Infrastructure
Close America’s Transit Automation Gap
An outdated federal law blocks transit modernization
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Infrastructure
Reform Funding to Encourage Early Transit Planning
A penny today is worth a dollar tomorrow
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Infrastructure
Focus Capital Investment Grants on Improved Project Delivery
Redesigning federal grant procedures and requirements will set up projects for success
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Infrastructure
Fast-Track Democratically Approved Transit Projects
Procedural requirements delay voter-approved transit
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Infrastructure
Reduce Needless Bus Customization
Federal incentives can reform bus procurement
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Infrastructure
Use AI to Improve Transit Planning
An accessible repository of transit planning information would aid project delivery
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Infrastructure
We Should Know How Much Transit Components Cost
Itemized procurement reduces expensive change order conflicts
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Infrastructure
Let Transit Agencies Buy Land
FTA regulations block transit agencies from conducting early works until after environmental review
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Infrastructure
Get the Best Value in Transit Procurement
Requiring agencies to select the cheapest contracts ends up costing more
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Infrastructure
Transit Projects Need a Single Decision-Maker
Limit unreasonable third-party demands using the Conference of Services model
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