North America Economy Opens up to Innovation, as Boston and New York take Global Prize

MELBOURNE, Australia, Feb. 27, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- 7th annual 2thinknow Annual Innovation Cities Index released today in Melbourne, classifying 445 cities globally for innovation

Boston and New York were announced as twin winners for the world's most innovative city today by Australian innovation agency 2thinknow. In the seven years publishing the index, this is the first time two cities have tied for first place -- due to their strong innovation potential.

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This year's top 10 cities for innovation economy in 2012-2013 were rounded out by Vienna, San Francisco Bay Area, Paris, Munich, London, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, and Seattle.

Other notable global cities were Toronto (11), Los Angeles (12), Berlin (13), Hong Kong (14), Stockholm (16), Seoul (21), Washington DC (22), Tel Aviv (28), Shanghai (29) and Dubai (34). Cities in this grouping up to 35th place were classified as Nexus cities, demonstrating innovation potential across a diverse range of industries.

In March 2012, U.S. President Obama talked about "how to boost innovation in manufacturing," after factories in Petersburg, Virginia added jobs for the first time since the early 90s. In his speech, Obama talked about "additional steps to lead to recovery" and the need for supporting the valuable trend of innovation.

The next group of cities included Hub cities, with the primary contributor cities of the United States and Canada. Notable Hub city improvers included Dallas-Fort Worth, Raleigh-Durham, Houston, Portland, Baltimore, and Mexico City. Many southern European cities fell this year. London and Scandinavian region cities rose. There are five classification bands for cities.

Informing the rankings was the trend of "localised and 3D manufacturing, with the maker movement as a key driver of US innovation in fields as diverse as robotics, design, behavioural computing, and unmanned planes (drones)," stated Executive Director of 2thinknow, Christopher Hire.

Unlike other innovation measures, this index is not based on patent filings. According to the analysts, the Innovation Cities Index is based on data from 162 indicators across a diverse range of industries in all cities. The Innovation Cities Index has been published since 2007 and all years are available online at www.innovation-cities.com/indexes.

SPOKESPERSON
Christopher Hire
Executive Director
2thinknow
+61-3-9935-2927
+61-409-787-960

SOURCE 2thinknow

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