Smart Centres Index
Smart Centres Index
The Smart Centres Index (SCI) was developed as part of our Distributed Futures programme and is an initiative to track the development of technology and financial centres across the world in their support for and readiness for new technology applications. It aims to help investors, governments, and regulators track the attractiveness of technology centres for new technologies and products by measuring how attuned centres and their regulatory systems are to attracting innovation and growth in Science, Technology, Energy Systems, Machine Learning, Distributed Ledgers, and Fintech.
The ninth edition of the Smart Centres Index was published on 30 May 2024. SCI 9 rates the innovation and technology offerings of leading commercial centres, tracking their ability to create, develop, and deploy technology.
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 support provided by regulatory and other systems to innovation and technology in a centre.
- Creative Intensity - the intensity of technology and innovation services and opportunities in a centre.
- Delivery Capability - the quality of the technology and innovation work that is taking place in a centre.
131 commercial and financial centres were researched for SCI 9 of which 79 are included in the index. SCI 9 was compiled using 135 instrumental factors. These quantitative measures are provided by third parties including the World Bank, the OECD, and the United Nations.
The instrumental factors are combined with financial centre assessments provided by respondents to the SCI online questionnaire. SCI 9 uses 1,661 assessments provided by 246 respondents.
SCI 9 Results
- London retained first place in the index, with Zurich rising to second place and New York down one place to third.
- Five Western European centres feature in the top 10, alongside three US centres.
- Singapore and Tel Aviv also feature in the top 10.
- Six centres rose 10 or more places in the ranking in SCI 9, while 11 centres fell 10 or more places.
- Following a rise in the average ratings in the last two editions of the index, the average rating in SCI 9 fell by 1.31%. The smallest reduction in average ratings was in Latin America & The Caribbean, while centres in Eastern Europe & Central Asia fell almost 2%.
- The continued geopolitical threats caused by conflict and economic instability may be driving a lack of confidence in technology centres across the world.