London has kept its title as the tech capital of the world in a closely-watched league table, while New York edged closer to reclaiming the crown.
The Z/Yen Smart Centres Index – which ranks 77 global commercial hubs on their ability to create, develop and deploy tech – showed London remained in first place, a title it has held in the biannual ranking since overtaking New York last May.
In the latest edition, New York took back second place after coming in third behind Zurich six months ago.
The gap between London and New York has narrowed by six points since May, with the UK capital’s score most recently dropping by seven. San Francisco climbed four places to come in fourth, behind Zurich.
Oxford and Cambridge, which have become powerful global tech hubs, fell by four and one places in the ranking respectively.
The new UK government has put Britain’s tech industry at the centre of its promise to bring in more international investment and create a supportive environment for start-ups.
At Labour’s flagship investment summit last month, US firms CyrusOne, Cloud HQ, CoreWeave and ServiceNow pledged a combined £6.3bn in funding for the UK’s data centre industry to help meet the nation’s increasing demand for AI and machine learning.
Jersey was the only location in Z/Yen’s top 20 to see its score rise over the six months, with the average rating across the index falling 1.07 per cent.
The numbers suggest declining confidence in technology centres across the world, which Z/Yen said could be driven by continued geopolitical threats caused by conflict and economic instability.
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 index was compiled using 132 factors provided by third parties, including the World Bank, OECD and United Nations, as well as 1,804 assessments through an online questionnaire.