Washington, D.C. (October 29, 2026) — The Data Catalyst Institute (DCI) today announced its relaunch with a refined focus, moving from the digital economy writ large to the foundations of the frontier economy: energy, compute, and work. The shift reflects the moment the United States and the world now face, as the AI boom makes electricity, computing power, and a ready workforce the main constraints on growth at all levels of the economy.
The relaunch builds on eight years of DCI research about the digital economy, all of it grounded in a clear conviction: competitive markets, economic abundance, private investment, and the fast, widespread adoption of new technology are the surest path to growth that benefits businesses, workers, consumers, and communities. In recent years, DCI’s emphasis turned increasingly to AI, including in its seminal report, "Barcodes to Battlefields: How AI Is Rewriting the Rules of Commerce, Banking, Healthcare, and Defense." Now, DCI is following that work to where AI’s progress depends most: the power to run it, the computing capacity to scale it, and the people to put it to work.
Today’s business leaders are caught between the fear of falling behind and the fear of betting wrong as they make critical choices, such as where to build when new power may be years away, how far to rewire their businesses around AI before the financial payoffs are clear, and whether to keep hiring the entry-level workers who become tomorrow’s managers. Meanwhile, policymakers at the federal, state, and local levels face difficult tradeoffs of their own, from adding power sources without raising household bills, to preparing students for career paths that are still being invented. Each choice carries risk, and so does putting off a decision.
For millions of people, these choices will decide whether families can afford to pay their electric bills, whether new college graduates will land a first job that starts a career, and whether the towns that host new data centers and power plants gain jobs and tax revenue from them.
“Public- and private-sector leaders are facing generational decisions about how to keep the lights on, how to put AI to work, and how people will make a good living in the years ahead, with context-dependent paths, hard tradeoffs, and no obvious right answers,” said Dr. Mark Drapeau, President of the Data Catalyst Institute. “The demand for clear, independent analysis to guide those decisions has grown far faster than the supply.”
DCI will carry its established approach into all three areas: original research and surveys, expert analysis and commentary, and convening of business leaders, policymakers, and independent experts. Its research will center on three questions, and DCI’s first three essays set out its view on each:
- Energy: How can America build enough reliable, affordable power to meet soaring demand? “America Needs Far More Power, and the AI Boom Can Help Pay for It” argues that whichever country builds power fastest will lead the world in AI and manufacturing, and that long-term contracts from AI companies can pay for new power plants without pushing the costs onto household bills.
- Compute: How can organizations turn their AI investments into lasting profits and better service for customers? “The Compute Economy Has Arrived, and It Rewards Organizations That Adapt Quickly and Strategically” argues that victory will belong to whoever puts AI to work fastest and smartest. The companies earning the most from AI are redesigning how they operate around it, and one national framework, modeled on Washington’s light-touch approach to the 1990s internet, would help American companies lead in AI the way they did online.
- Work: How can employers, workers, and communities come through the AI transition stronger? “AI Is Rewiring the Career Ladder, and the Choices Employers, Schools, and Policymakers Make Now Will Decide Who Climbs It” finds that AI helps beginners the most just as employers are hiring fewer of them, while the AI buildout is creating more skilled trade jobs than America can fill. Employers that rewire entry-level jobs around AI and policymakers who fund apprenticeships can keep the first rungs of the career ladder in place for the next generation of workers.
About the Data Catalyst Institute
The Data Catalyst Institute (DCI) is a research organization focused on the foundations of the frontier economy: energy, compute, and work. DCI produces rigorous, nonpartisan research and analysis on how market-oriented economies can accelerate innovation, and helps business and policy leaders make credible, evidence-based arguments for growth that benefits businesses, workers, consumers, and communities. Learn more at datacatalyst.org.
Contact: Mark Drapeau, mark@datacatalyst.org