About
We are entering a moment of profound inflection — technologically, geopolitically and economically. As artificial intelligence (AI), industrial automation, digital platforms and green technologies rapidly reshape how nations produce, trade and compete, it is increasingly clear that legacy tools of economic governance are no longer sufficient to ensure resilience, inclusivity or competitiveness. They must be reimagined for a multipolar, decarbonizing, digitally mediated world.
In response, CIGI is evolving its long-standing work on digital trade into a broader interdisciplinary research program: Next-Generation Economies: Middle Powers in a Changing World. It reflects the growing reality that digital trade is inseparable from industrial transformation. In this emerging digital-industrial paradigm, the boundaries between data, materials, energy systems and strategic infrastructure are rapidly eroding. AI is optimizing mineral extraction, digital platforms are restructuring labour markets and tokenization is redefining assets and ownership. Core issues of competitiveness, sovereignty and economic governance are being rewritten.
Middle powers — economies with substantial capacity but without the hegemonic reach of the United States or China — are at the centre of this transformation. These nations face a double-edged challenge: how to harness innovation while preserving strategic autonomy amid shifting global power, digital dependence and declining multilateral coherence. Canada, a middle power, stands at a critical juncture. It faces stagnant productivity, regional fragmentation and underinvestment in advanced manufacturing, AI and green infrastructure. Internationally, it must navigate rising protectionism, digital trade fragmentation and supply chain volatility. These developments have exposed Canada’s vulnerabilities in trade reliance, intellectual property enforcement and global technology influence.
Our goal is to empower policy makers and institutional leaders with forward-looking frameworks, engaging public and private sector partners, international organizations and civil society to guide supply chain resilience and shape equitable, sustainable technological transitions.
