Melbourne ranked above Sydney in list of world’s most innovative cities
Melbourne has nearly matched Silicon Valley in a list of the world’s most innovative cities, boosting the city’s status as an innovation hub. This is where we ranked.
VIC News
Don't miss out on the headlines from VIC News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Melbourne has topped Sydney for the first time and nearly matched Silicon Valley in a list of the world’s most innovative cities.
The annual 2ThinkNow index of innovative cities, to be released today, has ranked Melbourne in 11th place overall, behind New York, Tokyo and London, and ahead of Sydney in 15th place.
The data agency says Melbourne has enhanced its status as an innovation hub in the Asia-Pacific region.
“Melbourne’s performance was due to improved ability to translate local ideas from the creative, media and sports industries into a global phenomenon,” it said.
“In short, it is becoming easier to go global from Australian’s major cities, with Melbourne leading the way this year.”
The city’s reputation has been boosted by the success of several companies valued at over $1 billion, including digital media business REA Group, human resources platform Culture Amp, software company Aconex, international payments firm Airwallex and business services provider MYOB.
Melbourne had placed at 33rd in the world in 2015, when the state government created start-up agency LaunchVic, which has since provided support to 386 companies and more than 4800 entrepreneurs.
Jobs, Innovation and Trade Minister Martin Pakula said the government had been “backing groundbreaking companies to continue to do amazing things in Victoria”.
“We know that Melbourne is the home of innovation in Australia and while titles are nice, the real rewards are the growing number of jobs that our cutting-edge companies deliver for Victorians,” Mr Pakula said.
The 2ThinkNow list, which is now in its 12th year, ranked 500 cities based on 162 indicators ranging from cultural assets, universities, transport infrastructure and trade and tax policies.
2ThinkNow director Christopher Hire said the list “often predicts rising cities before other rankings”.