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2019-04-02T14:13:00Z
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: Change from 2017 ranking: +11 Companies that call this city home: AAA, FreeCast, Immune Therapeutics, Solodev Change from 2017 ranking: no change Companies that call
this city home: Accenture, Storyful, Zalando, Udemy Change from 2017 ranking: -5 Companies that call this city home: Yandex, Gazprom, Sistema, Mobile TeleSystems Change from 2017 ranking: +4 Companies that call this city home: Telespazio, Leonardo, Enel, e-Geos Change from 2017 ranking: no change Companies that call this city home: Nokia, Rovio Entertainment, Supercell, Smartly.io Change from 2017 ranking: +5 Companies that call this city home: Panasonic, Capcom, Sharp Electronics, Sakura Internet Change from 2017 ranking: -7 Companies that call this city home: Fiverr, Gett, Mindspace, Cortica50. Orlando,
Florida
Shutterstock 49. Dublin, Ireland
Wikipedia 48. Moscow, Russia
MarinaDa / Shutterstock 47. Rome, Italy
Stefano Rellandini/Reuters 46. Helsinki, Finland
Oleksiy Mark / Shutterstock 45. Osaka, Japan
Shutterstock/cowardlion 44.
Tel Aviv, Israel
Dance60 / Shutterstock
43. Oakland, California
Visit Oakland/FacebookChange from 2017 ranking: +12
Companies that call this city home: Pandora, VSCO, Ask.com, Kaiser Permanente
42. Hamburg, Germany
Flickr/Martin de LusenetChange from 2017 ranking: -2
Companies that call this city home: Bauer Media Group, Jimdo, mytaxi, Wunder Mobility
41. Portland, Oregon
Josemaria Toscano/ShutterstockChange from 2017 ranking: +7
Companies that call this city home: AWS Elemental, Tektronix, InFocus, Nike
40. Milan, Italy
The skyline of Milan on a September evening. Michael ChiaravallotiChange from 2017 ranking: -11
Companies that call this city home: UniCredit, Prysmian, 505 Games, Pirelli
39. Copenhagen, Denmark
Shutterstock/S-FChange from 2017 ranking: -6
Companies that call this city home: Adform, Sitecore, Momondo, SYBO Games
38. Madrid, Spain
anekoho/ShutterstockChange from 2017 ranking: -15
Companies that call this city home: Telefonica, OnTruck, Cabify, fintonic
37. Beijing, China
Shutterstock/gyn9037Change from 2017 ranking: -7
Companies that call this city home: Baidu, Lenovo, Xiaomi, Weibo
36. Oslo, Norway
Marina_89 / ShutterstockChange from 2017 ranking: +3
Companies that call this city home: Telenor, Opera Software, Kahoot!, Schibsted Media
35. Shanghai, China
Sumeth anu/ShutterstockChange from 2017 ranking: -3
Companies that call this city home: Webi English, YI Technology, Motion Global, Clobotics
34. Manchester, United Kingdom
William McCue / UnsplashChange from 2017 ranking: +11
Companies that call this city home: AccessPay, LADbible, AO World, Boohoo
33. Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Cars drive on Sheikh Zayed's highway in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Kamran Jebreili/APChange from 2017 ranking: -5
Companies that call this city home: Emirates Airline, Careem, Souq.com, Blink Studios
32. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
f11photo/ShutterstockChange from 2017 ranking: +2
Companies that call this city home: Comcast, Aramark, Lincoln National Corp., Crown Holdings
31. Denver, Colorado
EdgeOfReason/ShutterstockChange from 2017 ranking: +11
Companies that call this city home: Ibotta, MapQuest, FareHarbor, Catalyst Repository Systems
30. Barcelona, Spain
Flickr / MorBCNChange from 2017 ranking: -17
Companies that call this city home: Privalia, Wallapop, Typeform, TravelPerk
29. Austin, Texas
f11photo/ShutterstockChange from 2017 ranking: +18
Companies that call this city home: Dell, Indeed, National Instruments, HomeAway
28. Stockholm, Sweden
Flickr/Pedro SzekelyChange from 2017 ranking: +3
Companies that call this city home: Spotify, Ericsson, King (Candy Crush), NorthStar Group
27. Hong Kong, China
zhangyuqiu/ShutterstockChange from 2017 ranking: +8
Companies that call this city home: Yoswit, Klook, GoGoVan, WeLab
26. Miami, Florida
Courtesy of TripAdvisorChange from 2017 ranking: no change
Companies that call this city home: Magic Leap, WhereBy.Us, Lennar, CareCloud
25. Vancouver, Canada
mffoto / ShutterstockChange from 2017 ranking: -1
Companies that call this city home: Hootsuite, PlentyOfFish, Cognitive3D, BroadbandTV
24. Washington, DC
seanpavone/shutterstockChange from 2017 ranking: +3
Companies that call this city home: Lockheed Martin, Appian, HelloWallet, Rosetta Stone
23. San Diego, California
Rigucci/ShutterstockChange from 2017 ranking: +13
Companies that call this city home: Qualcomm, Brain Corp, Classy, Illumina
22. Montreal, Canada
ShutterstockChange from 2017 ranking: -3
Companies that call this city home: Element AI, Air Canada, Hopper, Transit
21. Munich, Germany
Shutterstock/Sean PavoneChange from 2017 ranking: -6
Companies that call this city home: Siemens, BMW, Tado, Allianz
20. Atlanta, Georgia
SeanPavonePhoto / iStockChange from 2017 ranking: -2
Companies that call this city home: Aptos, UPS, Bluefin, Cricket Wireless
19. Vienna, Austria
VitalyEdush / iStockChange from 2017 ranking: -9
Companies that call this city home: TourRadar, Kompany, Tricentis, Robo Wunderkind
18. Amsterdam, Netherlands
Shutterstock/photo.uaChange from 2017 ranking: -6
Companies that call this city home: Booking.com, Philips, TomTom, BTC.com
17. Houston, Texas
Sean Pavone/ShutterstockChange from 2017 ranking: +5
Companies that call this city home: Citgo, cPanel, FlightAware, Sysco
16. Melbourne, Australia
ShutterstockChange from 2017 ranking: +9
Companies that call this city home: Redbubble, Telstra, Catapult Sports, CSL Limited
15. Seattle, Washington
ShutterstockChange from 2017 ranking: +6
Companies that call this city home: Amazon, Zillow, Qualtrics, Rover
14. Berlin, Germany
canadastock/ShutterstockChange from 2017 ranking: +3
Companies that call this city home: SoundCloud, HelloFresh, Babbel, Zalando
13. Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas
Sean Pavone/iStockChange from 2017 ranking: +3
Companies that call this city home: AT&T, American Airlines, Texas Instruments, Energy Transfer Equity
12. Seoul, South Korea
501room/ShutterstockChange from 2017 ranking: -1
Companies that call this city home: Samsung, Hyundai Motor, LG Electronics, SK Holdings
11. Chicago, Illinois
ShutterstockChange from 2017 ranking: +9
Companies that call this city home: Grubhub, Boeing, Groupon, Motorola Mobility
10. Sydney, Australia
ShutterstockChange from 2017 ranking: +4
Companies that call this city home: Canva, Atlassian, Zip Money, Nuix
9. Paris, France
ShutterstockChange from 2017 ranking: no change
Companies that call this city home: Orange Communications, Deezer, Thales Group, DailyMotion
8. Toronto, Canada
ShutterstockChange from 2017 ranking: no change
Companies that call this city home: Wealthsimple, InterAxon, Wattpad, The Stars Group
7. Boston, Massachusetts
Songquan Deng/ShutterstockChange from 2017 ranking: -2
Companies that call this city home: General Electric, HubSpot, Bain Capital, Boston Dynamics
6. Singapore, Singapore
Chris McGrath/Getty ImagesChange from 2017 ranking: +1
Companies that call this city home: DBS Bank, Singtel, CapitaLand Limited, Flex
5. Los Angeles, California
Chones/ShutterstockChange from 2017 ranking: +1
Companies that call this city home: Snap Inc., SpaceX, Riot Games, Hulu
4. New York, New York
turtix/ShutterstockChange from 2017 ranking: -2
Companies that call this city home: WeWork, Verizon, IBM Watson, Citigroup
3. Silicon Valley (San Francisco-San Jose), California
Bill45/ShutterstockChange from 2017 ranking: +1
Companies that call this city home: Apple, Google (Alphabet), Facebook, HP, Intel, Netflix, Tesla
2. London, United Kingdom
Mapics/ShutterstockChange from 2017 ranking: -1
Companies that call this city home: Barclays, TransferWise, BP, ASOS.com, Monzo
1. Tokyo, Japan
ShutterstockChange 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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