Best cities for tech students revealed by Business Fibre

Business Fibre analysed 34 of the world’s Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) capital cities to find 2020’s best cities for tech students.

The metrics explored included budget spent on tech-related research, amount of workers employed in professional, scientific and technical sectors, amount of top universities in the country offering technology and engineering courses, and amount of tech companies present.

The top 10 cities for tech students starting this September, according to Business Fibre’s research, are as follows:

1. London

Amount of tech/STEM employees: 2.4 million

Amount of tech companies: 509,000

Amount of top universities: 36

Percentage of GDP spent on research: 1.6%

2. Berlin

Amount of tech/STEM employees: 2.4 million

Amount of tech companies: 209,000

Amount of top universities: 25

Percentage of GDP spent on research: 3.1%

3. Jerusalem

Amount of tech/STEM employees: 290,000

Amount of tech companies: 47,000

Amount of top universities: 5

Percentage of GDP spent on research: 4.8%

4. Bern

Amount of tech/STEM employees: 423,000

Amount of tech companies: N/A

Amount of top universities: 5

Percentage of GDP spent on research: 3.4%

5. Seoul

Amount of tech/STEM employees: 1.1 million

Amount of tech companies: 91,000

Amount of top universities: 17

Percentage of GDP spent on research: 4.3%

6. Stockholm

Amount of tech/STEM employees: 443,000

Amount of tech companies: 64,000

Amount of top universities: 6

Percentage of GDP spent on research: 3.4%

7. Paris

Amount of tech/STEM employees: 1.6 million

Amount of tech companies: 136,000

Amount of top universities: 21

Percentage of GDP spent on research: 2.2%

8. Canberra

Amount of tech/STEM employees: 808,000

Amount of tech companies: 97,000

Amount of top universities: 20

Percentage of GDP spent on research: 1.8%

9. Rome

Amount of tech/STEM employees: 1.5 million

Amount of tech companies: 117,000

Amount of top universities: 15

Percentage of GDP spent on research: 1.4%

10. Tokyo

Amount of tech/STEM employees: 2.4 million

Amount of tech companies: N/A

Amount of top universities: 14

Percentage of GDP spent on research: 3.2%

“With technology arguably being the fastest growing and most profitable industry in the world, we wanted to find the best cities in the world to be a tech student as well as the top cities funding technology-related research,” said Ian Wright, managing director at parent company Brilliant British Ltd.

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“It’s clear from the research that London, Berlin and Jerusalem are the best cities for students, while Seoul and Bern join Jerusalem at the top for investing in technology-related research.

“For those who don’t want to spend a ton of money on their education, Seoul National University is a great option that offers a lower living cost while still having a good global university ranking.”

More information gained by Business Fibre can be found here.

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Aaron Hurst

Aaron Hurst is Information Age's senior reporter, providing news and features around the hottest trends across the tech industry.