Stockholm Ranked Among the Foremost Innovation Hubs
In a report released this year by the international investment firm Atomico, the Swedish capital of Stockholm retains its place as the home of the second highest number of new billion dollar technology companies in the world in comparison to its population size. Only Silicon Valley, USA, ranks higher, with 8.1 new billion dollar tech companies per million inhabitants since 2003, to Sweden’s 6.3. With Swedish IT products such as Skype, Candy Crush, Spotify and Minecraft gaining market shares all over the world these figures are hardly surprising.
Many experts regard Sweden’s many new technological successes as an effect of the very export focused mind-set fostered by its relatively small domestic market. Sweden’s increasing number of successful IT exports also closely echoes the achievements within the field of international heavy industry, which built much of the country’s wealth during the 1950s and 1960s.
Just like in Silicon Valley most Swedish technological innovations originate from young entrepreneurs. Several studies now indicates that Sweden’s true wealth might very well lay in its youth, which thanks to a well-developed IT infrastructure and a vibrant internet culture has been able to develop their skills and ideas. Parallel to the financial success stories this phenomenon has also helped Sweden to achieve high rankings in virtually all studies aimed towards measuring the digitalization of culture and everyday life.
