Already a tourism centre thanks to its long-established Shakespeare festival, the Canadian city of Stratford is pushing forward with an innovative technology-focused strategy that, according to mayor Dan Mathieson, will not only benefit the festival and its visitors but also make the city a year-round destination. 

Researchers say that a new city model – dubbed silicon city – can help foster innovation and has the capacity to transform cities, even, they stretch so far as to say, the economically destitute Detroit.

Once living in a small town meant isolation and a lack of opportunity. That is all changing as remote, rural communities embrace the digital age and link up with the global economy.

The pro-business environment in Indiana goes back for generations, the state's governor tells Karen E Thuermer. This, combined with the hospitality offered by Indiana's natives and a commitment to career and vocational education, is making the state stand out both nationally and globally.

Chief of the US Chamber of Commerce, Thomas J Donohue is tasked with keeping the chamber’s agenda foremost in the minds of policymakers. And in 2014 that means focusing on expanding trade, producing more domestic energy and improving infrastructure. 

Car manufacturers are investing their way out of the doldrums by upping their efforts when it comes to R&D, and increasingly partnering with academic institutions to stay ahead of the competition.

Years of sluggish economic growth and the political deadlock of recent months have seen the US's AAA credit rating once again come under risk, but could the country's pro-FDI stance and shale gas-fuelled energy boom be about to alleviate some of this pressure?