NEW YORK AND LONDON LEAD THE WAY IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW TECHNOLOGY

The Smart Centres Index explores the ability of global commercial centres to be hubs for the development of new technology. In SCI 4, New York takes first place, with London returning to second place.

Leading centres in the SCI are based in places which combine an innovative, cultural centre with a high-performing university sector across STEM subjects, supported by a well-developed regulatory, commercial and financial services.

Overview

• Western European centres feature strongly, with seven centres in the top 10, alongside New York in first place, and Hong Kong and Singapore from Asia/Pacific.
• US and Chinese centres do not feature as highly in the index as might be expected given the extent of their development in technology, as shown by their leading position in the filing of patents and with China leading the US on this measure.
• Looking at the dimensions that make up the SCI, US centres generally rank lower for Creative Intensity than their overall rank; and Chinese and other Asia/Pacific centres score lower for Innovation Support, including regulation, than they do for the other dimensions.

SCI 4 Results

• New York regained its first position in the index, remaining the only US centre in the top 10.
• London took second place, with Oxford, Cambridge, Hong Kong, and Singapore taking the next places.
• Copenhagen joins the index in 8th place, replacing Geneva in the top 10.
• Only three centres rose 10 or more places in the rankings in SCI 4, while six centres fell 10 or more places.

The top 20 ranked centres in SCI 4 are shown in the table below:

Full details of SCI 4 can be found at www.smartcentresindex.net.

Professor Michael Mainelli, Executive Chairman of Z/Yen, said:

“Technology and science change how we engage with the world. The pace of innovation is heightened as connectivity keeps increasing. More and more, the successful commercial centres in the world are those who nurture technology. These smart centres are forming in four clusters, an exceptionally strong UK, North America, Europe, and southeast Asia. We anticipate the emergence of a singular China soon too. Policy makers are realising that narrow technology areas, e.g. fintech, are not sufficient and they need to rethink how they build a truly smart, knowledge economy. We have much to learn.”

We invite all those with an interest in the development of innovation centres to take part in SCI 5 by rating the financial and commercial centres you know here – www.smartcentresindex.net/survey/.

ENDS

Notes For Editors

About SCI 4

The SCI is a factor assessment index, combining a number of instrumental factors - data measures drawn from a range of data providers across the world - and assessments given by business and finance professionals of three dimensions related to innovation and technology in major commercial and financial centres:

• Innovation Support - the approach taken to regulation and support for the innovation and technology industry provided by the commercial ecosystem.
• Creative Intensity - the extent to which technology and innovative industries are embedded in the economy of the centre.
• Delivery Capability - the quality of the work being undertaken in the field in the centre.

These dimensions are brought together in the overall SCI ratings to produce the index, which is updated every six months. SCI 4 was compiled using 130 instrumental factors. These quantitative measures are provided by third parties including the World Bank, The Economist Intelligence Unit, the OECD, and the United Nations. The instrumental factors were combined with 2,157 assessments provided by 302 respondents to the SCI online questionnaire.

To find out more about sponsorship opportunities, joining the Vantage Financial Centres network, further research, and bespoke reports on individual financial centres, please contact us.

Previous Editions

Previous editions of the SCI can be accessed at https://www.longfinance.net/programmes/financial-centre-futures/smart-centres-index/publications/

Z/Yen & Long Finance

Z/Yen is the City of London's leading commercial think-tank. It was founded in 1994 to promote societal advance through better finance and technology (www.zyen.com). The SCI is part of Z/Yen’s research into economic centres alongside the Global Financial Centres Index and the Global Green Finance Index.

For more information please email Mike Wardle at mike_wardle@zyen.com or phone on +44 (0) 7880 737319.