2ThinkNow is an innovation agency based in Melbourne. They started ‘The Innovation Cities Program’ in 2007 to collect and analyse data on the innovation used in cities around the world.
The findings from their recent report ‘Innovation Cities Indexes 2011′ reveal which cities have been the most economically innovative.
The data showed that innovation is “the key driver of economic recovery from previous recessions and downturns for nations”.
The program uses city-level data measuring and city-centric economic activity to report on cities that are able to “deliver products, process, services and other types of innovation across an urban economy. “
This year Boston came first, largely due to it’s well-know educational institutions Harvard and MIT, the arts network, strengthening startups and thriving business.
Other top cities included the San Francisco Bay Area, Paris, New York and Vienna.
Sadly for us, Australian cities were further down the list, with Melbourne at 17th and Sydney sitting in 20th position.
According to 2ThinkNow, Executive Director, Christopher Hire, “Innovation Cities Global Index measures cities as innovation economies. This goes beyond technology or patents alone. 2thinknow analysts also collect data on assess transport, universities, arts, design, sustainability, economics, start-up facilities, labor as well as other factors to measure the opportunities cities offer their citizens. We aim to measure cities economic opportunity not nations.”
We wonder why Sydney didn’t come higher up on the list and what we could be doing to improve our ranking for next year.
We think this project is hugely interesting and useful for cities to see where they are going wrong but perhaps more importantly, to see what they are doing right. We also think it is valuable for cities to be able to learn from each other.
We would love to hear want you think about the Innovation Cities Index? Do you agree that Boston should be placed first? If not, who would you prefer to see in the top spot?
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