Toronto Beats Vancouver, Canadian Cities Lag Europe in Innovation

MELBOURNE , Oct. 27 /CNW/ - Innovation Analysts 2thinknow launched yesterday a 4 year global study of which cities were winning the global innovation race and why, in an in-depth report.

The report called for North American cities to reinvent a Capitalist New Deal - centred on communities of innovation. Cities like Lyon, were developing a start-up culture now competing with U.S.A. and Canada .

However, Toronto had a diverse start-up, technology and university culture for innovation, the analysts noted.

In some positive news for the U.S., Boston was identified as the world's number one innovation city. Boston scored well across the broadest range of innovation indicators. San Francisco , New York and post-Obama Washington D.C. were other North American cities competitive with European nexus innovation cities.

Toronto was the only Canadian city in the top 25 nexus cities identified in the report, as Europe dominated 68% of top 25 nexus cities globally for innovation. Vancouver , Montréal, Québec out-performed many U.S. cities on innovation, but were not competitive with top European capitals.

The report's Innovation Cities Framework uses models that analyze innovation in a networked world.

Christopher Hire , innovation analyst and Executive Director at 2thinknow, authors of the report, said that cities "want to innovate and profit from the new era of networks and connectivity will need to be networked. Not just digitally, but physically. The next high growth company - and next jobs - will come from clusters of cities that are interconnected."

"Cities that can inspire ideas, implement locally and network globally."

Analysts also found that North American cities faced an infrastructure gap, decreasing innovation advantages relative to competing cities. North Europe's digital mobility - the ability to work anywhere - was now competitive with Asian cities like Seoul and Singapore .

The Innovation Cities Framework featured in the September 2009 edition of Canada's Municipal World magazine. The framework and report are linked to today's release of the Innovation Cities Americas 25 Index, ranking global cities for innovation.

Examining 31 innovation segments, the 2thinknow Innovation Cities Framework applies 162 indicators in a structured analysis and planning framework for measuring, defining and building an innovation city. For reporting this is communicated as 3 factors - developed cultural assets, human infrastructure - for mobility, start-ups, education, technology - and networked markets.

Copies of the report are available for order at http://www.innovation-cities.com

Image of Christopher Hire , Executive Director of 2thinknow, presenting the Innovation Cities Analysis Report http://www.asianetnews.net/special-events

For further information: Media spokesperson: Christopher Hire, Executive Director, 2thinknow Phone: [phone], Phone: [phone] (switchboard)