The UK has dropped one place, to fourth, in KPMG’s annual ranking of most promising countries in the world for disruptive technology breakthroughs that have a global impact.

Now in its eighth year, the survey consisted of 810 technology leaders - 54 per cent of them c-level executives - across 12 countries. It placed the UK tied with Japan in fourth, behind the US and both China and India, which tied for second place.

Although the US, China and Japan have held steady in their ranking since last year, this was a significant improvement for India; which ranked sixth in 2019.

KPMG’s study revealed which cities, in addition to presumed global leader Silicon Valley/San Francisco, are likely to be leading technology innovation hubs over the next four years. This year, 37 per cent of respondents - compared to 58 per cent last year - said it was likely the innovation centre of the world would move from Silicon Valley in the next four years.

London moved up one notch to second place behind Singapore, which leaped from seventh last year, to top this year’s global rankings. Respondents listed modern infrastructure, including high-speed bandwidth, urban locale that is attractive to young professionals, at least one research-intensive university, available investment funding and a pipeline of skilled talent, as the top five most important factors in enabling a city to become a technology innovation centre.

New cities that also took major steps forward this year included Tel Aviv which moved from 15th to third place, and Bengaluru, which jumped from 18th to ninth.

Cities that were outside the top 20 last year, but made this year’s list included Chicago, Frankfurt, Mumbai, Shenzhen, Montreal and Dallas. Cities that were in the top 20 last year but dropped out included Washington DC, Paris, Amsterdam, Barcelona and Los Angeles.

Bina Mehta, partner for KPMG private enterprise, said: “Despite the political uncertainty of the last few years, London continues to attract an increasing number of disruptors and innovative businesses, offering a supportive ecosystem which appeals to investors and entrepreneurs from across the globe.

“The capital is not only a global hub for big data and FinTech, but home to a diverse group of innovative businesses, from the life sciences and deep-tech spin outs coming from leading universities such as Imperial College to the creative digital businesses in the West End.

“With Brexit now decided and clarity around the new Global Talent visa programme, the UK and London will continue to shine when it comes to its technology pedigree.”

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