Cambridge remains world's most intensive science and technology cluster

King's College Chapel, University of Cambridge. The university is at the heart of Cambridge’s science and technology cluster. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, licensed under the Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0) license

The city of Cambridge is still the world’s most intensive science and technology cluster, a new report has revealed.

According to the 2023 Global Innovation Index (GII) – which evaluates the top-level innovative capacity of countries and economies, and identifies local concentrations of world-leading activity – Cambridge ranks number one in the world for science and technological (S&T) intensity, in relation to its size.

Cambridge, which also ranked number one in 2022, beat San Francisco in the US and Oxford in the UK (second and third this year respectively) to top the 2023 list.

The index, due to be published in full on September 27, notes that per one million inhabitants, the Cambridge cluster filed 6,582 Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) patent applications and published 37,136 scientific articles over the past five years.

At the heart of Cambridge’s science and technology cluster is the University of Cambridge, which adds nearly £30bn to the economy annually and supports more than 86,000 jobs across the UK, according to a report released in March this year by consultants London Economics. The university powers world-leading research, driving a thriving ecosystem of hundreds of spinout and start-up companies, and nurturing an environment for business services and investment.

Professor Deborah Prentice, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, said: “Cambridge is a truly extraordinary place, where leading scientists work side by side with industry and academic partners, sparking ideas and creating life-changing medicines, technologies and services. I am thrilled to see it again recognised as one of the greatest innovation hubs on the planet.”

Dr Diarmuid O’Brien, Chief Executive, Cambridge Enterprise, said: “It is fantastic to see this continued recognition of Cambridge’s success as the world’s most intensive science and technological cluster. The Cambridge innovation ecosystem is home to a unique and driven community of exceptional science, people, companies and partners, tackling global challenges and changing lives.”

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