Singapore has retained its pole position in KPMG’s global ranking of leading technology innovation hubs outside of Silicon Valley/San Francisco.
The 2021 KPMG Technology Industry Survey of more than 800 global leaders ranked Singapore ahead of New York, Tel Aviv, Beijing, and London for the second year running.
“Singapore’s accomplishments as a leading tech innovation hub have been part of the country’s strategic vision. It reinforces other strengths that the nation has consciously built up, such as a reputable global financial hub and a critical gateway for businesses to access the rest of Asia,” said Ling Su Min, Partner, Head of Clients, Markets and Innovation at KPMG in Singapore.
Top factors in the rating of the cities were urban locale that attracts young professionals, a pipeline of skilled talent, and modern infrastructure.
The United States, China and India emerged as the top three countries that show the most promise for developing disruptive technologies.
“We are seeing Asia take a leading position in innovation across the world and as highlighted in this report, more than 50 percent of these top innovation hubs are based in this region. Asian cities will continue to be a hotbed of creativity and we expect even more activity as organisations invested in Asia look to further disrupt business models to capture the world’s largest consumer population,” said Darren Yong, Asia Pacific Head of Technology, Media and Telecommunications at KPMG.
Even though the pandemic has affected the way people work, the global tech leaders believe that physical innovation hubs will continue to play a vital role enabling talent to coalesce and collaborate in communities with a solid digital infrastructure.
Four in 10 see hubs as being critical for driving technology innovation. Among those who were neutral or felt that physical hubs are unimportant, 92 percent think that physical hubs will exist four years from now.
Hybrid and remote working models could influence opinions of which cities are leading technology innovation hubs over the next few years, according to 61 percent of those surveyed. This is because tech companies are embracing hybrid and remote working models to retain top talent as their workforce disperses geographically.
Entelechy Asia 