The Smart Centres Index explores the ability of global commercial centres to create, develop, and deploy technology. 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.

SCI 7 Results

• Western European and US centres show continued strong performance, but Asia/Pacific centres have fallen back a little.
• London took first place in the index, with New York and San Francisco in second and third.
• Four Western European centres feature in the top 10, and three from the US. Singapore and Hong Kong feature in the top 10 among Asia/Pacific centres. Tel Aviv enters the top 10 for the first time.
• Five centres rose 10 or more places in the rankings in SCI 7, while six centres fell 10 or more places.
• Following a fall in the average ratings in SCI 6, the average rating in SCI 7 rose by 6.28% with all centres rising in the ratings. This may show increased confidence in the quality and depth of technology and innovation development across the world.

As a mark of continued technological progress, we asked respondents to the SCI survey to predict the time frame over which they expected quantum computers to be able to break current public key encryption. Over three-quarters of respondents expect this point to be reached within five years. This increase in computational power will continue to drive the way in which technology shapes our lives.

Survey Respondents’ Estimate Of The Timeframe Over Which Quantum Computers Will Enable The Breaking Of Current Public Key Encryption

The top 20 centres in SCI 7 are shown in the table below:

Full details of SCI 7 can be found at www.smartcentresindex.net.

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

“We will only solve our global problems by harnessing technology to the task. Our expectations of technology will only be realised if we can deploy it, which is the job of commercial centres. It’s an exciting, and dangerous, time, and more than ever we must improve our assessments of new technologies ranging from AI to materials, space, graphene, carbon capture, or quantum computing.”

We invite all those with an interest in the development of innovation and technology centres to take part in SCI 7 by rating the financial and commercial centres you know on our continuously running survey – www.smartcentresindex.net/survey/.

ENDS

Notes For Editors

About SCI 7

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 7 was compiled using 136 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 1,806 assessments provided by 257 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.