The US Infrastructure Investment and Job Act (IIJA), also commonly referred to as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill, passed in 2021, has drawn international attention. It aims to help to rebuild US infrastructure, including transportation networks, broadband, water, power and energy, environmental protection and public works projects. An estimated $1.2 trillion in total funding over ten years will be allocated. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill is the largest funding bill for US infrastructure in the recent history of the United States. This review article will specifically discuss funding allocations for roads and bridges, power and grids, broadband, water infrastructure, airports, environmental protection, ports, Western water infrastructure, electric vehicle charging stations and electric school buses in the new spending of the Infrastructure Investment and Job Act and why these investments are urgently necessary. This article will also briefly discuss the views of think tank experts, the public policy perspectives, the impact on domestic and global arenas of the new spending in the IIJA, and the public policy implications.

Universities play a key role in university-industry-government interactions and are important in innovation ecosystem studies. Universities are also expected to engage with industries and governments and contribute to economic development. In the age of artificial intelligence (AI), governments have introduced relevant policies regarding the AI-enabled innovation ecosystem in universities. Previous studies have not focused on the provision of a dynamic capabilities perspective on such an ecosystem based on policy analysis. This research work takes China as a case and provides a framework of AI-enabled dynamic capabilities to guide how universities should manage this based on China’s AI policy analysis. Drawing on two main concepts, which are the innovation ecosystem and dynamic capabilities, we analyzed the importance of the AI-enabled innovation ecosystem in universities with governance regulations, shedding light on the theoretical framework that is simultaneously analytical and normative, practical, and policy-relevant. We conducted a text analysis of policy instruments to illustrate the specificities of the AI innovation ecosystem in China’s universities. This allowed us to address the complexity of emerging environments of innovation and draw meaningful conclusions. The results show the broad adoption of AI in a favorable context, where talents and governance are boosting the advance of such an ecosystem in China’s universities.

Online transportation is a new type of service equipped with an internet network, and its presence in Indonesia is considered a service that disrupts the transportation sector. The government is faced with a complex policy problem to regulate online transportation. This article aims to reveal the role of policy actors in the media regarding policy issues and online transportation policy solutions. This article used qualitative analysis and the NPF policy narrative framework approach. This study found that licensing issues and Permenhub were problems that the DIY and Riau governments shared. More specific problems in Riau Province are related to violence issues, and that in DIY are related to congestion problems. The policy solution recommended by policy actors to the media is to make regional level regulations that technically regulate online transportation according to the area conditions.

Iran has one of the oldest civilizations in the world, and many elements of today’s urban planning and design have their origins in the country. However, mass country-city migration from the 1960s onwards brought enormous challenges for the country’s main cities in the provision of adequate housing and associated services, resulting in a range of sub-standard housing solutions, particularly in Tehran, the capital city. At the same time, and notably in the past decade, Iran’s main cities have had significant involvement in the smart city movement. The Smart Tehran Program is currently underway, attempting to transition the capital towards a smart city by 2025. This study adopts a qualitative, inductive approach based on secondary sources and interview evidence to explore the current housing problems in Tehran and their relationship with the Smart Tehran Program. It explores how housing has evolved in Tehran and identifies key aspects of the current provision, and then assesses the main components of the Smart Tehran Program and their potential contribution to remedying the housing problems in the city. The article concludes that although housing related issues are at least being raised via the new smart city technology infrastructure, any meaningful change in housing provision is hampered by the over centralized and bureaucratic political system, an out of date planning process, lack of integration of planning and housing initiatives, and the limited scope for real citizen participation.

This paper investigates the innovation policy used by the Chinese government and tries to give recommendations to other developing countries to achieve leapfrogging. The main results are as follows: (1) summarize the main HSR-related policy theme issued by the Chinese government, mainly technology transfer, the communication and collaboration with different actors, and the state’s role, (2) discuss the existing challenges and issues for HSR policies, (3) give recommended measures for other developing countries.