Singapore second best innovation destination after Silicon Valley: research

Singapore has emerged as the second-biggest innovation destination after Silicon Valley this year as more companies set up hubs in the city-state.

Singapore economy
A view of Singapore's skyline March 2, 2016. REUTERS/Edgar Su Reuters

Singapore has emerged as the second-biggest innovation destination after Silicon Valley this year as more companies set up hubs in the city-state, according to Capgemini 2017 Innovation Research.

Singapore added 13 innovation centres between November 2016 and October 2017 compared to Silicon Valley's 10.

At the same time, Silicon Valley, despite being the top innovation hub, has seen a decline as it is now home to only 38 percent of the world's innovation centres compared to 58 percent in 2015.

Singapore pushed London into third place in the ranking of newly opened hubs. This is primarily due to Singapore's aggressive push to become a "digital economy," noted the research report.

An increasing need for many non-Asian organisations to localise product or services is also bringing them closer to the market, the report said.

Bangalore is also an increasingly attractive location with the Indian city becoming the fourth most popular innovation center destination (against fifth in 2016) and India ranked fourth in newly opened innovation hubs during 2017.

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