The ranking has been published since 2007 and scores cities on 162 parameters, not just technological innovation.
The criteria fall into 3 groups: Cultural Assets (measuring from visa requirements for entry and equality of women to quality of restaurants), Human Infrastructure (from modes of airport transfer to Government IT policy) and Networked Markets (from social media to strategic power). A total of 500 cities are covered by the ranking.
In this 12th edition of the ranking, one of the biggest gains amongst the top 50 cities has been made by Moscow >(+10).
“Moscow is becoming an increasingly attractive city to live in. Recently it climbed 10 spots, ranking 38 out of 500 most innovative cities in the world. Earlier this year it was also ranked among the top 10 cities for startups, gained the status of sustainable city and claimed its spot among the top three largest Wi-Fi networks of any city globally,” stressed Eduard Lysenko, Minister of the Government of Moscow and Head of the Moscow’s Department of Information Technology (DIT).
Other cities that have moved sharply up the ranking are Barcelona (+9), Beijing (+11), Madrid (+12), >Milan (+11), Moscow (+10), Las Vegas (+11), Istanbul (+10) and Taipei (+16).