Sydney has dropped five places and Melbourne risen five in the latest ranking of smart cities.
The Innovation Cities ranking has been produced since 2007 by 2data analysis company 2thinknow — which is based in Melbourne. It is claimed to be the world’s largest and longest running ranking of cities for innovation.
The 2019 ranking runs to 500 cities. Melbourne was 11th, Sydney 15th, Brisbane 48th, Perth 101st, Adelaide 154th, Canberra 160th, Gold Coast 214th, Hobart 219th, Newcastle 293rd, Wollongong 310th, Geelong 313th, Bendigo 384th; Ballarat 388th.
Auckland came it at 11th, Wellington 120th, Christchurch 209th and Queenstown 286th. Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Newcastle, Geelong all rose in the rankings from 2018, the rest declined.
According to 2thinknow, the index scores cities on a broad range of 162 indicators including start-up economy, 13 mobility indicators, sustainability, neighbourhoods and technology among others
2thinknow director, Christopher Hire, said the index had been designed to measure innovation conditions, and often predicted rising cities before other rankings.
“It is up to the city whether they can keep on top of the latest trends, and exploit their innovation potential ongoingly,” he said. “Cities that place well every year do that, which is not as simple as it sounds for urban areas to adapt and transform.”
Vic Gov’t claims credit
The Victorian Labor Government claimed credit for Melbourne’s rise in the ranking, saying government startup agency LaunchVic had played an important role in Melbourne’s tech boom, supporting and funding early-stage startups and scaleups that had contributed to significant expansion in the innovation ecosystem.
“LaunchVic has backed 386 companies and more than 4,800 entrepreneurs by providing mentorships, accelerator programs, bootcamps and other support for early-stage businesses to reach their full potential,” it said.
“Melbourne’s rise has been even more dramatic over the life of the Andrews Labor Government: in 2015 the city was ranked 33rd in the world for innovation.”
A surfeit of smart city rankings?
As IoTAustralia observed in a recent report of another ranking of cities for innovation/smartness/intelligence, there is no shortage of these, and they often differ widely.
The New York based Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) earlier this month published the list of finalists for its 2020 Intelligent Community of the Year award. The only ones in common with 2thinknow’s 500 list were Adelaide and Wellington.
