Two recent studies have found Singapore to be the world’s most prepared city for the age of artificial intelligence (AI), and the global leader in terms of smart city efforts.
The first study, conducted by the Oliver Wyman Forum, ranks 105 international cities in terms of their preparedness for the technological and digital disruption that will be spurred by AI.
With an average score of 75.8 out of 100, Singapore showed the most readiness overall, surpassing London (75.6), New York (72.7), San Francisco (71.9), Paris (71.0), Stockholm (70.4), Amsterdam (68.6), Boston (68.5), Berlin (67.3), and Sydney (67.3).
The index ranked cities on four key criteria: the quality of a city’s plan (Vision); a city’s ability to execute on forward-looking plans (Activation); the extent and quality of talent, education, and infrastructure (Asset Base); and how the interplay of Activation and Asset Base are impacting its overall momentum (Trajectory).
One key finding from the study is that although megacities like London, New York and Paris have well-scaled business communities and talent pools, smaller cities can be just as competitive technology-wise. In fact, half of the top 10 cities – San Francisco, Boston, Amsterdam, Stockholm, and Sydney – have fewer than 5 million residents.
The second study, called the IMD Smart City Index 2019, provides a ranking of 102 cities worldwide based on their efforts and success in embracing smart technologies to improve the lives of their citizens.
The report named Singapore “the smartest city in 2019”. The city-state was recognised for using technology to improve the quality of life and surpassed the likes of Zurich, Oslo, Geneva and Copenhagen.
Singapore’s Land Transport Authority has announced that by 2020 all payments for public transport will be made through digital platforms only, and a public-private initiative has enabled over 500 hawkers in the city-state to accept cashless payments.