No matter where you live in the world, your life has been impacted by the technology and innovation conceived of in Silicon Valley. The wealth that has been created has been enormous. A popular British newspaper once published an article suggesting that if Silicon Valley were a country, it would be among the richest on Earth.
Generally, in the arithmetic absence of the various areas of the U.S. indelibly connected to Silicon Valley and the respective ideas that emanate from those places, the net gross domestic product growth of the U.S. over the last 40 years may have been nothing at all.
The success of Silicon Valley has created several sister cities across the U.S. that are attempting to replicate the magical formula that we wrote about in 2018 (www.dbta.com/Editorial/News-Flashes/The-Six-Sister-Cities-of-Silicon-Valley-125972.aspx). Now, let’s explore the sister cities of Silicon Valley across the small pond we call the Atlantic Ocean in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa—EMEA.
London
London was identified as one of the two most influential cities in the world, according to Kearney’s “2019 Global Cities Report” (www.kearney.com/global-cities/2019) and the number-one most influential city according to Forbes. In 2018, Forbes (www.forbes.com/best-countries-for-business/list) named the U.K. as the number-one best country for business. According to the “2018 Tech Nation Report” (https://technation.io/report2018), London is the second-most connected ecosystem in the world and secured the position of third place for the tech startup ecosystem. Historically, the U.K. has collected the lion’s share of venture capital investment in Europe. Two of the top 10 universities in the world, Cambridge and Oxford, are located in the U.K. World-class scholars have spanned the centuries and included Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, and Stephen Hawking. With access to capital, world-class talent, and connectivity, it has earned our recognition as a sister city of Silicon Valley.
Berlin
Berlin, the capital of Germany, was identified as the 14th most influential city in the world according to the “2019 Global Cities Report” and has steadily moved up the list every year. Germany has recently surpassed the U.K. to become the lead country for investment by venture capitalists. The Humboldt University of Berlin is ranked as one of the top 20 universities in the world. Germany, as a nation, has a deep commitment to public education and continues to gain popularity as a place to study abroad. Berlin offers free open-access internet throughout the city, and, inspired by their counterparts in San Francisco, local entrepreneurs in Berlin have created Silicon Allee (www.siliconallee.com), a local startup ecosystem. The combination of culture, high density of educational institutions, technology infrastructure, and access to capital has earned our recognition as a sister city of Silicon Valley.
Dublin
Dublin, the capital of Ireland, was identified as number nine in Kearney’s 2019 report. In 2018, Forbes named Ireland number 11 among best countries for business post-Brexit. Ireland has emerged as the only English-speaking country in the EU. Silicon Docks is an area in Dublin that takes its name from Silicon Valley and is home to many well-established high-tech companies such as Google and Facebook. To encourage startups, Ireland established Enterprise Ireland to provide support and advice to Irish technology companies. In 2016, more than $1 billion in venture money was invested in Irish companies.