Singapore asserts itself open for business and welcomes start-ups with a warm embrace.
Singapore exhibits a strong lead in the Investment Dimension. The city is positioned in 1st place with a 25% growth. That is considerably more than its direct competitors, Hong Kong and Dubai. It's clear to see that searches increase and stabilize after December 2016 with the end of two-year negative inflation.
Singapore is the new city in Asia for investors and entrepreneurs. Amazingly, it has surpassed its fierce rival, Hong Kong, ranking 1st in the Investment Dimension for the first time. Popular searches for Singapore include ‘economic strength’ and ‘startups’. In November, searches for ‘entrepreneurship’ peaked due to the launch of Chinese Singaporean incubation space in Suzhou, China called BLOCK71. Its goal was to create business ties between the two cities. This initiative supports startups in the city and is the 5th most important brand tag for Singapore in Investment.
Singapore holds 2nd in the Tourism Dimension by achieving impressive growth in searches (22%), which is more than double Dubai does holding 1st place. One of Singapore’s most appealing touristic appeals is its ‘gardens’; in Asia, it ranks 1st. Therefore, it is no surprise that Singapore has gained the name City in a Garden, thanks to its multitude of green urban spaces. With searches almost doubling, the city also ranks 1st in ‘cruises.’ Evidently, Singapore is stationing itself as the Cruise hub in Asia and thus, succeeding.
Singapore climbed to the top 3, achieving the highest growth in Talent compared its direct competitors, Dubai and Hong Kong. Additionally, Singapore attained the 1st position for searches of ‘living’ and it’s no surprise that the city is positioning itself as the most appealing to live in Asia and the searches reflect this. Overall, Singapore shows its strength with exponential growth across all dimensions. In this case, Dubai shouldn’t feel too relaxed as winners of the first Digital City Index-Asia because it has fierce competition on its trail.
The Digital City is a City that has triggered proactive interest from Global Citizens (tourists, investors and general citizens) towards that City in the Digital World. This definition was presented by Bloom Consulting in 2015 after determining through its own research and multiple other sources — including Google Intelligence — that when someone searches for information about a City in the context of Tourism, Investment and Talent, one of the primary sources used today is a “search engine”.
This act of “searching” can be triggered by something one may have read in a newspaper, heard in a conversation or simply out of curiosity. “Searches” represent the true level of interest in a City or a Place and therefore demonstrate a City’s genuine appeal. If measured, “searches” can also highlight the interests one may have with regard to any specific Country Region or City.
With this data, Cities can measure if their Actions, Activities and Policies are causing any effect on their Brand appeal and on their overall perception. The Digital City Index measures the performance of the #DigitalCity
Would you like to know more?
Check it out here: www.digitalcityindex.com
