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.
CI 12 Results
- Zurich took first place in the index, with London and Singapore overtaking San Francisco to take second and third positions.
- Five Western European centres feature in the top 10, alongside two US centres Busan and Tel Aviv also feature in the top 10.
- Six centres rose 10 or more places in the ranking in SCI 12, while five centres fell 10 or more places.
- The average rating in SCI 12 rose by 3.33%, building on a rise of 0.63% in SCI 11.
- The biggest increase in average ratings of 4.01% was in Eastern Europe & Central Asia, while the lowest increase in the average rating was for North America where ratings rose 2.46%.
- Assessments in the SCI survey appear to favour centres with strong people skills. This assists leading centres such as Zurich, Singapore, San Francisco, and London.
We asked respondents to the SCI survey to identify the areas of technology which are likely to have the most impact on industry over the next five years. Almost a quarter of respondents identified ‘Artificial Intelligence, Digital And Computing’ as likely to have the greatest impact, with ‘Energy And Environmental Technology’, and ‘Robotics’ mentioned by 17% and 14% of respondents respectively.
The top 20 ranked centres in SCI 12 are shown in the table below:
Full details of SCI 12 can be found at www.smartcentresindex.net
Professor Michael Mainelli, Chairman of Z/Yen said:
“AI continues to be a technology exciting business interest and investment froth. However, centres with the skills, know how, and research depth in AI are not just the ones with the investment bubbles. Centres appear to be emerging that focus on ‘boring’ AI work and research into statistical probity, IP rights, information chain-of-custody, regulation, standards, data provenance, and ethics. AI is a rapidly emerging field moving into deployment, so it’s not surprising to see significant shifts in emphasis, shifts that may align with future investments.”
We invite all those with an interest in the development of innovation and technology centres to take part in SCI 13 by rating the financial and commercial centres you know on our continuously running survey – smartcentresindex.net/survey/.
