Which country has the most advanced city?

Silicon Valley may be home to huge tech companies like Google and Facebook, but the San Francisco metro area isn't the most innovative city in the world, according to annual rankings compiled by data firm 2thinknow.

Instead, the top spot belongs to Tokyo, Japan, according to the 2018 Innovation Cities Index. This is the first time that an Asian city has claimed the title as world's most innovative city since 2thinknow first started compiling the annual rankings in 2007.

Of the top 50, the city with the biggest jump in the rankings was Austin, Texas, which moved up 18 spots from 2017 to claim No. 29. Meanwhile, Barcelona dropped to No. 30 in the index, a 17-spot decrease from last year.

Cities are assessed based on 31 segments of their industries and economy, and 162 indicators of innovation. However, the firm's data analysts compile each city's index score, out of 60, from three key factors: cultural assets, human infrastructure, and networked markets.

Here is the current ranking of the 50 most innovative cities in the world:

50. Orlando, Florida

Change from 2017 ranking: +11

Companies that call this city home: AAA, FreeCast, Immune Therapeutics, Solodev

49. Dublin, Ireland

Change from 2017 ranking: no change

Companies that call this city home: Accenture, Storyful, Zalando, Udemy

48. Moscow, Russia

Change from 2017 ranking: -5

Companies that call this city home: Yandex, Gazprom, Sistema, Mobile TeleSystems

47. Rome, Italy

Change from 2017 ranking: +4

Companies that call this city home: Telespazio, Leonardo, Enel, e-Geos

46. Helsinki, Finland

Change from 2017 ranking: no change

Companies that call this city home: Nokia, Rovio Entertainment, Supercell, Smartly.io

45. Osaka, Japan

Change from 2017 ranking: +5

Companies that call this city home: Panasonic, Capcom, Sharp Electronics, Sakura Internet

44. Tel Aviv, Israel

Change from 2017 ranking: -7

Companies that call this city home: Fiverr, Gett, Mindspace, Cortica

43. Oakland, California

Change from 2017 ranking: +12

Companies that call this city home: Pandora, VSCO, Ask.com, Kaiser Permanente

42. Hamburg, Germany

Change from 2017 ranking: -2

Companies that call this city home: Bauer Media Group, Jimdo, mytaxi, Wunder Mobility

41. Portland, Oregon

Change from 2017 ranking: +7

Companies that call this city home: AWS Elemental, Tektronix, InFocus, Nike

40. Milan, Italy

Change from 2017 ranking: -11

Companies that call this city home: UniCredit, Prysmian, 505 Games, Pirelli

39. Copenhagen, Denmark

Change from 2017 ranking: -6

Companies that call this city home: Adform, Sitecore, Momondo, SYBO Games

38. Madrid, Spain

Change from 2017 ranking: -15

Companies that call this city home: Telefonica, OnTruck, Cabify, fintonic

37. Beijing, China

Change from 2017 ranking: -7

Companies that call this city home: Baidu, Lenovo, Xiaomi, Weibo

36. Oslo, Norway

Change from 2017 ranking: +3

Companies that call this city home: Telenor, Opera Software, Kahoot!, Schibsted Media 

35. Shanghai, China

Change from 2017 ranking: -3

Companies that call this city home: Webi English, YI Technology, Motion Global, Clobotics

34. Manchester, United Kingdom

Change from 2017 ranking: +11

Companies that call this city home: AccessPay, LADbible, AO World, Boohoo

33. Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Change from 2017 ranking: -5

Companies that call this city home: Emirates Airline, Careem, Souq.com, Blink Studios

32. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Change from 2017 ranking: +2

Companies that call this city home: Comcast, Aramark, Lincoln National Corp., Crown Holdings

31. Denver, Colorado

Change from 2017 ranking: +11

Companies that call this city home: Ibotta, MapQuest, FareHarbor, Catalyst Repository Systems

30. Barcelona, Spain

Change from 2017 ranking: -17

Companies that call this city home: Privalia, Wallapop, Typeform, TravelPerk

29. Austin, Texas

Change from 2017 ranking: +18

Companies that call this city home: Dell, Indeed, National Instruments, HomeAway

28. Stockholm, Sweden

Change from 2017 ranking: +3

Companies that call this city home: Spotify, Ericsson, King (Candy Crush), NorthStar Group

27. Hong Kong, China

Change from 2017 ranking: +8

Companies that call this city home: Yoswit, Klook, GoGoVan, WeLab

26. Miami, Florida

Change from 2017 ranking: no change

Companies that call this city home: Magic Leap, WhereBy.Us, Lennar, CareCloud

25. Vancouver, Canada

Change from 2017 ranking: -1

Companies that call this city home: Hootsuite, PlentyOfFish, Cognitive3D, BroadbandTV

24. Washington, DC

Change from 2017 ranking: +3

Companies that call this city home: Lockheed Martin, Appian, HelloWallet, Rosetta Stone

23. San Diego, California

Change from 2017 ranking: +13

Companies that call this city home: Qualcomm, Brain Corp, Classy, Illumina

22. Montreal, Canada

Change from 2017 ranking: -3

Companies that call this city home: Element AI, Air Canada, Hopper, Transit

21. Munich, Germany

Change from 2017 ranking: -6

Companies that call this city home: Siemens, BMW, Tado, Allianz

20. Atlanta, Georgia

Change from 2017 ranking: -2

Companies that call this city home: Aptos, UPS, Bluefin, Cricket Wireless

19. Vienna, Austria

Change from 2017 ranking: -9

Companies that call this city home: TourRadar, Kompany, Tricentis, Robo Wunderkind

18. Amsterdam, Netherlands

Change from 2017 ranking: -6

Companies that call this city home: Booking.com, Philips, TomTom, BTC.com

17. Houston, Texas

Change from 2017 ranking: +5

Companies that call this city home: Citgo, cPanel, FlightAware, Sysco

16. Melbourne, Australia

Change from 2017 ranking: +9

Companies that call this city home: Redbubble, Telstra, Catapult Sports, CSL Limited

15. Seattle, Washington

Change from 2017 ranking: +6

Companies that call this city home: Amazon, Zillow, Qualtrics, Rover

14. Berlin, Germany

Change from 2017 ranking: +3

Companies that call this city home: SoundCloud, HelloFresh, Babbel, Zalando

13. Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas

Change from 2017 ranking: +3

Companies that call this city home: AT&T, American Airlines, Texas Instruments, Energy Transfer Equity

12. Seoul, South Korea

Change from 2017 ranking: -1

Companies that call this city home: Samsung, Hyundai Motor, LG Electronics, SK Holdings

11. Chicago, Illinois

Change from 2017 ranking: +9

Companies that call this city home: Grubhub, Boeing, Groupon, Motorola Mobility

10. Sydney, Australia

Change from 2017 ranking: +4

Companies that call this city home: Canva, Atlassian, Zip Money, Nuix

9. Paris, France

Change from 2017 ranking: no change

Companies that call this city home: Orange Communications, Deezer, Thales Group, DailyMotion

8. Toronto, Canada

Change from 2017 ranking: no change

Companies that call this city home: Wealthsimple, InterAxon, Wattpad, The Stars Group

7. Boston, Massachusetts

Change from 2017 ranking: -2

Companies that call this city home: General Electric, HubSpot, Bain Capital, Boston Dynamics

6. Singapore, Singapore

Change from 2017 ranking: +1

Companies that call this city home: DBS Bank, Singtel, CapitaLand Limited, Flex

5. Los Angeles, California

Change from 2017 ranking: +1

Companies that call this city home: Snap Inc., SpaceX, Riot Games, Hulu

4. New York, New York

Change from 2017 ranking: -2

Companies that call this city home: WeWork, Verizon, IBM Watson, Citigroup

3. Silicon Valley (San Francisco-San Jose), California

Change from 2017 ranking: +1

Companies that call this city home: Apple, Google (Alphabet), Facebook, HP, Intel, Netflix, Tesla

2. London, United Kingdom

Change from 2017 ranking: -1

Companies that call this city home: Barclays, TransferWise, BP, ASOS.com, Monzo

1. Tokyo, Japan

Change from 2017 ranking: +2

Companies that call this city home: SoftBank, Hitachi, Toshiba, Sony Corporation, Mitsubishi

In a news release announcing the 2018 rankings, 2thinknow's director Christopher Hire credited Tokyo's "support of new technologies" in raising the city to the top of the 2018 rankings.

"They showed clear direction by embracing smart technology change to lead innovation, and leadership in what we have identified as the twin long-term globe shaking trends of robotics and 3D manufacturing," Hire said.

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