London has retained its position as the world's tech capital, according to a highly-regarded league table, while New York is inching closer to reclaiming the top spot.
The Z/Yen Smart Centres Index, which ranks 77 global commercial hubs based on their ability to innovate, develop and implement technology, revealed that London continues to hold the first place, a title it has maintained since surpassing New York last May, as reported by .
In the most recent edition, New York regained second place after falling behind Zurich six months prior. The gap between London and New York has shrunk by six points since May, with London's score recently decreasing by seven.
San Francisco ascended four places to secure fourth place, trailing Zurich. Oxford and Cambridge, recognised as influential global tech hubs, dropped by four and one places in the ranking respectively.
The new º£½ÇÊÓƵ government has positioned Britain’s tech industry at the heart of its pledge to attract more international investment and foster a supportive environment for start-ups. At Labour’s flagship investment summit last month, US companies CyrusOne, Cloud HQ, CoreWeave and ServiceNow committed a combined £6.3bn in funding for the º£½ÇÊÓƵ’s data centre industry to cater to the nation’s growing demand for AI and machine learning.
Jersey was the only location in Z/Yen’s top 20 to witness an increase in its score over the past six months, with the average rating across the index falling 1.07 per cent.
According to recent numbers, confidence appears to be waning in global technology centres, a trend that Z/Yen attributes to the ongoing geopolitical tensions and economic instability. Commenting on the current state of sentiments, former Lord Mayor of the City of London and Z/Yen chair Michael Mainelli said: "The latest results in the SCI show a slight dip in confidence in the strength of centres, and confirmation that strengths in AI, digital, and computing skills will have a major impact on centres’ performance."
The data was compiled from various authoritative sources like the World Bank, OECD, United Nations, alongside 1,804 responses gathered through an online survey.
