Key Takeaways
- • The Global Trade and Innovation Policy Alliance (GTIPA) released the Transatlantic Subnational Innovation Competitiveness Index 3.0 on September 8, 2026, benchmarking 213 regions across 13 transatlantic countries using 14 commonly available innovation indicators to assess regional competitiveness.
- • Massachusetts ranks as the top-performing region globally with a score of 95.3, followed by California at 88.8, establishing the U.S. as the leader in subnational innovation performance among transatlantic jurisdictions.
- • The index covers 121 U.S. regions and 6 European countries, with additional analysis of 48 regions across Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, and Serbia, providing a comprehensive competitive assessment tool for policymakers.
- • The benchmark employs 13-14 standardized indicators of knowledge creation, globalization, and innovation capacity, enabling direct comparative analysis of regional strengths and weaknesses across disparate geographic and economic contexts.
- • The report, authored by 11 think tanks including contributors from ITIF, serves as a strategic policy instrument for regional governments seeking to understand competitive positioning and identify targeted interventions to enhance innovation ecosystems.
Summary
The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) and 10 partner think tanks under the GTIPA umbrella published the Transatlantic Subnational Innovation Competitiveness Index 3.0 on September 8, 2026. The comprehensive analysis benchmarks 213 regions across 13 transatlantic countries, establishing a quantitative framework for assessing regional innovation performance and competitive capacity in an increasingly knowledge-driven global economy.
The index reveals pronounced regional divergence in innovation competitiveness. Massachusetts emerges as the clear leader with a score of 95.3, followed by California at 88.8, underscoring concentrated innovation strength in U.S. technology hubs. The analysis spans 121 U.S. states and provinces alongside 96 subnational jurisdictions across Germany, Italy, and Canada, supplemented by dedicated assessment of 48 regions across Southeast European economies including Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, and Serbia.
The benchmark employs 13-14 standardized indicators measuring knowledge creation, technological capacity, globalization, and innovation infrastructure. This methodology enables policymakers to conduct rigorous comparative analysis of their regional competitive positioning relative to peer jurisdictions, identifying specific strengths to leverage and weaknesses to remediate through targeted policy intervention.
The research represents a collaborative effort among 11 think tanks coordinated through GTIPA, with authorship contributions from innovation policy specialists across multiple transatlantic economies. The index is explicitly designed as an evaluative and comparative tool, enabling subnational governments to contextualize their innovation performance within a standardized, internationally comparable framework. For investors and policymakers, the index identifies which regional ecosystems possess the institutional, human capital, and technological foundations required for sustained competitive advantage in innovation-driven sectors.
The third iteration of this index reflects ongoing refinement in transatlantic innovation measurement and represents a resource for identifying emerging innovation clusters and assessing regional divergence in technological capacity across the transatlantic economy.
The index reveals pronounced regional divergence in innovation competitiveness. Massachusetts emerges as the clear leader with a score of 95.3, followed by California at 88.8, underscoring concentrated innovation strength in U.S. technology hubs. The analysis spans 121 U.S. states and provinces alongside 96 subnational jurisdictions across Germany, Italy, and Canada, supplemented by dedicated assessment of 48 regions across Southeast European economies including Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, and Serbia.
The benchmark employs 13-14 standardized indicators measuring knowledge creation, technological capacity, globalization, and innovation infrastructure. This methodology enables policymakers to conduct rigorous comparative analysis of their regional competitive positioning relative to peer jurisdictions, identifying specific strengths to leverage and weaknesses to remediate through targeted policy intervention.
The research represents a collaborative effort among 11 think tanks coordinated through GTIPA, with authorship contributions from innovation policy specialists across multiple transatlantic economies. The index is explicitly designed as an evaluative and comparative tool, enabling subnational governments to contextualize their innovation performance within a standardized, internationally comparable framework. For investors and policymakers, the index identifies which regional ecosystems possess the institutional, human capital, and technological foundations required for sustained competitive advantage in innovation-driven sectors.
The third iteration of this index reflects ongoing refinement in transatlantic innovation measurement and represents a resource for identifying emerging innovation clusters and assessing regional divergence in technological capacity across the transatlantic economy.
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