NORTH AMERICA ECONOMY OPENS UP TO INNOVATION, AS BOSTON AND NEW YORK TAKE GLOBAL PRIZE

7th annual 2thinknow Annual Innovation Cities Index released today in Melbourne, classifying 445 cities globally for innovation

EMBARGOED UNTIL WEDNESDAY 27^th FEBRUARY 8:05 AM EDT (New York) / LONDON 1:05 PM GMT

2THINKNOW // MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA — Boston and New York were announced as twin winners for the world’s most innovative city today by Australian innovation agency 2thinknow. In the seven years publishing the index, this is the first time two cities have tied for first place — due to their strong innovation potential.

This year’s top 10 cities for innovation economy in 2012-2013 were rounded out by Vienna, San Francisco Bay Area, Paris, Munich, London, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, and Seattle.

Other notable global cities were Toronto (11), Los Angeles (12), Berlin (13), Hong Kong (14), Stockholm (16), Seoul (21), Washington DC (22), Tel Aviv (28), Shanghai (29) and Dubai (34). Cities in this grouping up to 35th place were classified as Nexus cities, demonstrating innovation potential across a diverse range of industries.

In March 2012, U.S. President Obama talked about “how to boost innovation in manufacturing,” after factories in Petersburg, Virginia added jobs for the first time since the early 90s. In his speech, Obama talked about “additional steps to lead to recovery” and the need for supporting the valuable trend of innovation.

The next group of cities included Hub cities, with the primary contributor cities of the United States and Canada. Notable Hub city improvers included Dallas-Fort Worth, Raleigh-Durham, Houston, Portland, Baltimore, and Mexico City. Many southern European cities fell this year. London and Scandinavian region cities rose. There are five classification bands for cities.

Seoul improved 2012 and changed from a Hub to a Nexus city, following Hong Kong’s lead from last year. Asian cities are now ahead of Australia’s city economies represented by Melbourne and Sydney. However, Brisbane and Kuala Lumpur are both surprises with enormous climbs in the ranking Index.

Key European cities continued to place well, often indicating a separation between city and national performance. For the first time a city in Israel receives Nexus Status, Tel Aviv. The city has been improving well over the last year. Germany’s Munich continued climbing up to 7th place from 15^th, as German cities continued to perform well. London improved to 11th from 14th, as Manchester (32nd) rose to Nexus status for the first time.

In the Middle-East Dubai and Tel Aviv entered the Nexus classification for the first time, and were the first cities in the region to show such strong innovation performance. Cape Town in South Africa was the top placed African city, maintaining second-tier hub status.

Informing the rankings was the trend of “localised and 3D manufacturing, with the maker movement as a key driver of US innovation in fields as diverse as robotics, design, behavioural computing, and unmanned planes (drones),” stated Executive Director of 2thinknow, Christopher Hire.

The top 35 of 445 cities were classified as Nexus cities by the analysts. Nexus cities were the analysts best general destinations for innovation, followed by the next 95 Hub cities named as challengers in many sectors of the city economy.

The balance of cities were classified as Node cities or in two lower performance bands. According to the analyst’s classification, Node cities are globally competitive for innovation. The lower two bands of Upstart and Influencer were names as strong classifications for developing cities.

“The real game change is the 3D manufacturing and maker movement in the United States. With a superior distribution network for innovation — also true in South Korea and Japan, 3D manufacturing which is the printing of physical objects from blue prints — means the decentralisation and customisation are almost here. This makes cities administration centres for distributed enterprise.

“This decentralisation of physical production (not just virtual stuff) is a phenomenal game changer our trends have been predicting since 2010, and we are mapping the progress in mature markets. It’s the next economic cycle, bigger than smart phones.”

In 2012-2013 there were 445 cities benchmarked for innovation, up from 333 cities in 2011 and compared with 289 cities in 2010. The top 133 cities were ranked by the analysts based on 21 current global trends, listed in the accompanying Innovation Cities Analysis report. The indicators framework, models and global analysis of trend impact were also outlined in the report. 2thinknow launched the index in 2007 and expanded the index in 2009 to 289 cities.

The analysts indicate on the fact that a city performance is more flexible, changeable and faster to turn around than national performance.

Unlike other innovation measures, this index is not based on patent filings. According to the analysts, the Innovation Cities Index is based on data from 162 indicators across a diverse range of industries in all cities. The Innovation Cities Index has been published since 2007 and all years are available online at www.innovation-cities.com/indexes.

Each year, the global index and top rankings are released with four regional indexes, that classify and rank the top cities for North & South America, Europe, Asia and Emerging regions.

In 2007 the analysts predicted the Global Financial Crisis as a “September (2008) shock event”, and now predicting the strong innovation-led recovery of the U.S. economy on a by-city basis.

SPOKESPERSON

Christopher Hire
Executive Director
2thinknow

+61 399352927
+61 409787960

TIME: Melbourne, Australia (AEST)

2012-13 INDEXES > TOP 100 | AMERICAS | EUROPE | ASIA | EMERGING | GLOBAL | ALL YEARS

Rapid email: media@2thinknow.com

About 2thinknow.

2thinknow is the world’s first innovation agency established in Melbourne in 2006. The Innovation Cities Program by 2thinknow commenced in 2007 from 2005 research. 2thinknow develops innovative data collection and analysis techniques based on sector innovation by city location.

2thinknow delivers City Benchmarking Data, analyst reports, the Innovation Course and other innovation services to city, business and government clients. See http://www.2thinknow.com

INDEXES TEXT LINKS

GLOBAL: http://innovation-cities.com/innovation-cities-global-index-2012/7237

AMERICAS: http://innovation-cities.com/innovation-cities-americas-index-2012/7241

EUROPE: http://innovation-cities.com/innovation-cities-europe-index-2012/7243

ASIA: http://innovation-cities.com/innovation-cities-asia-index-2012/7239

EMERGING: http://innovation-cities.com/innovation-cities-emerging-index-2012/7245

CITY RESOURCES:

Report: http://report.innovation-cities.com

Data: http://www.citybenchmarkingdata.com

Added Notes for Editors

Indexes

2012-13 INDEXES > TOP 100 | AMERICAS | EUROPE | ASIA | EMERGING | GLOBAL | ALL YEARS

Read the 2012-2013 FAQ

About This Year’s Index

2thinknow’s city benchmarking data set contains 1,540 cities. 445 cities are selected for inclusion.

The Innovation Cities™ Index purpose is to measure the development of innovation economies globally. The index measures the 3 factor preconditions for innovation — Cultural Assets, Human Infrastructure and Networked Markets.

To make it easy to read the indexes 2thinknow publish a global top 100, global full, and 4 regional indexes: Americas, Asia, Europe and Emerging.

Some quick facts about the Index.

• The worldwide rankings are produced annually by analysts at innovation consulting analysts, 2thinknow.
• The index is not a survey, but is independently researched by 2thinknow analysts.
• The index was first produced in 2007 with 22 cities from 95 profiled.
• City benchmarking data, contains all global cities benchmarked on 162 city indicators.
• Data is updated ongoingly, with more than many indicators being refreshed 2 or 3 times per annum
• Explanation of the 162 city indicators, and how cities can become innovation economies are contained in the Innovation Cities Analysis Report, from 2thinknow. http://report.innovation-cities.com

Reproducing the Index

The indexes and supporting materials are copyright and used under license by 2thinknow. You may reproduce the statistics and indexes in any reasonable form, graphics, or data mash-up as long as you attribute it to 2thinknow and do not modify the numbers or otherwise mislead. Print journalists can attribute in the standard fashion, or the other easy way to do this online is as follows:

Source: 2thinknow Innovation Cities™ Program: www.innovation-cities.com [or the link of the page you are referencing]

2thinknow do reserve all rights, including the right to ask content to be removed.

City ranking Tables / Lists for reproduction.

Links to the cities indexes

2012-13 INDEXES > TOP 100 | AMERICAS | EUROPE | ASIA | EMERGING | GLOBAL | ALL YEARS

Top 100 world cities for an innovation economy in 2012-2013

Top 10 Innovation Cities Americas Index 2012-2013

Top 10 Innovation Cities Europe Index 2012-2013

Top 10 Innovation Cities Asia Index 2012-2013

Innovation Cities Emerging Index 2012-2013

Attribution of all Tables

Source: 2THINKNOW
Attribute to: “INNOVATION CITIES INDEX(ES) 2012-2013”
Link To: www.innovation-cities.com

Information on 3  Factors:

You should know (Disclaimer)

The Innovation Cities Indexes (the “Indexes”) are for information purposes only and are intended for as a general purpose ranking measuring the relative importance of cities to the innovation economy. Practise in this area is continually changing and emerging, so the methodologies and processes change from year to year, and the availability of data changes from city to city.

While the Indexes have been prepared based upon the best available information, they are provided on an “as-is” basis, and 2thinknow accepts no responsibility/liability for the validity/accuracy (or otherwise) of the resources/data used to compile the Indexes. In no event will 2thinknow be liable to for any decision made or action taken in reliance of the results obtained through the use of, or the information and/or data contained in or provided by, the Indexes.

2thinknow and its representatives make no representations or warranties with respect to the Indexes, and disclaim all express, implied and statutory warranties of any kind, including, but not limited to, representations and implied warranties of quality, accuracy, timeliness, completeness, merchantability, and fitness for a particular purpose.

Professor Nicos Komninos mentioned the Innovation Cities Index in the leading URENIO resource site. Professor Komninos is one of the pioneers of knowledge-based and cluster forms of innovation in cities (along with knowledge economy pioneer Professor Carrillo of Monterrey), and respected and quoted by 2thinknow.

This followed an article in Greek Daily To Vima, where our Executive Director, Christopher Hire was interviewed following Professor Komninos — regarding innovation in Athens and the Greek economy.

These are a selection of the other interesting news stories we received in European newspapers, journals and news sites:

NUzakelijk (Netherlands): “Amsterdam in top 10 innovative cities (Amsterdam in top 10 innovatieve steden)”

France Innov’City: “Exclusive: 2011 Index of the most innovative in the world unveiled(Exclusivité : l’index 2011 des villes les plus innovantes du monde dévoilé)” (from the Ille d’Paris)

20 Minutes (French): “NANTES – Nantes parmi les plus innovantes”

Executive Digest (Portugal): ” The world’s most innovative cities(As cidades mais inovadoras do mundo)”

HG.HU(Hungary): ” The world’s most innovative cities (A világ leginnovatívabb városai)”

Economia 24 (Poland): “Boston’s most innovative city(Boston najbardziej innowacyjny)”

Onet Biznes (Poland): “The most innovative cities in the world”

ERR (Estonia): “Rating: Boston is a city in the world for innovation(Reiting: maailma innovaatilisim linn on Boston)”

Postimees(Estonia): “A hundred of the most innovative cities in the world there is no Estonian”

Italians in Fuga (Italy): “Classifica delle città più innovative al mondo”

2thinknow’s Innovation Cities™ Index provoked quite a discussion in Russia, and a worthwhile discussion on types of innovation for Russian cities.

Here’s a discussion from Korrespondent (Russian): “Q: Smart City. Rating of the most innovative cities in the world”

More from, the Voice of Russia: “Researchers named top-10 innovative cities of the world” (EN)

Lenta (Russian): “Russian cities were not included in the one hundred most innovative in the world”

Infox (Russian): “Moscow dropped from the list of the most innovative cities in the world”

Ukraine: “Named the most innovative places in the world”

Some other articles appeared in Germany, Belarus, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Amsterdam and other capitals. If you see a news story, let us know.

Please note we are aware of printed newspaper articles which we may not have captured. If there are any significant articles captured not listed here, you can let us know and we will up date this site. We also are aware of a great number of blog sites too numerous too list, but please draw any great sites to our attention.

The analysts at 2thinknow were of course flattered by this coverage for our innovation agency from these sources.

For Asian and Americas see this separate coverage.

These are some of the very interesting news stories we received in Asian newspapers, journals and news sites:

China Daily: ” Top 10 innovative cities: Boston leads world in 2011″

Xinhua News (China News Agency): ” Top 10 innovative cities: Boston leads world in 2011″

China News (China):  “Assessed by Australian innovation agency, Hong Kong was continuously Top 1 in Asia for 2 years

People’s Website (China): “Global Innovation Assessment of Cities, Hong Kong was ranked Top 1 in Asia

Legal Evening (China): ” Create Innovative Cities, Hong Kong is the most Innovative City in Asia“

Sina News (China): ” Australian innovation agency assessed innovation city globally, Hong Kong continuously ranked as the most innovative city in Asia for 2 years

Ifeng Finance (China): “Create Innovative Cities, Hong Kong is the Most Innovative City in Asia“

Cable News (Hong Kong): ” Hong kong defend its champion as the most innovative city in Asia”

Hong Kong Commercial Newspaper: “Australian Innovation Agency Assessed Global cities, Hong kong continuously ranked as the most innovative  city in Asia for 2 years”

Wen Wei Po (Hong Kong): ” Hong Kong Continuously Ranked as the most innovative city in Asia” [PDF]

AM730 Newspaper (HK): ” Innovation Cities, Hong Kong was ranked 15th in the world”

Live Trading News(Singapore): “Top 10 innovative cities”

The Daily (Korea, South): ” Boston was ranked #1 innovation city in the world… and Seoul?”

The Financial News (Korea, South): “Seoul will be beautiful”

Bernama (Malaysia NEws agency): ” Top 10 innovative cities, Boston leads world in 2011″

International Business Times: “Melbourne Tops Aussie Innovation in 5th Annual Cities Index”

Vietnam News: ” Boston is the innovation leader of the world”

Indonesia Serbaneka: ” Boston, World’s Most Innovative City”

The analysts at 2thinknow were interested in the range of coverage for our innovation agency from these sources across Asia.

Journalists wishing to do innovation news stories, please contact us at media@2thinknow.com

For Americas see this separate coverage.

We particularly enjoyed the 24/7 Wall St article, and slideshow by 24/7 Wall St.

http://247wallst.com/2011/10/18/the-most-innovative-cities-in-america/

For the indexes, note 2thinknow does not directly measure patents, 2thinknow measure innovation at an earlier stage. We are interested in the economic development of cities short term with innovation. (This was misreported in a few new stories). However, there is a positive correlation between our Index conditions and patents in general.

Thanks to Business Insider’s Abby Rogers, for her added comment and slideshow analysis. Read the full BI story here.

A special note to Richard Florida, who tweeted about our Index again — and is a pioneer of the modern cities movement. Scott Kirsner of the Boston Globe also tweeted us (and was among the first journalists in 2009 to give us a top tier interview).

These are some of the other interesting news stories we received in North and South American newspapers, journals and news sites:

Huffington Post: “America’s Most Innovative Cities: 24/7 Wall St.”

The Seattle Times: “Seattle makes list of elite innovative cities”

SmartPlanet (United States): “Top 10 most innovative cities”

My NorthWest (Seattle): “Seattle ranks among most innovative cities in U.S.”

Geekwire: “Seattle is the 25th most innovative city in the world“

Huffington Post (Canada): “Innovation Cities Index 2011: Toronto Named Among 10 Most Innovative Cities In The World”

Financial Post (Canada): ” Toronto among world’s top 10 most innovative cities”

Canada.Com: “Toronto among world’s top 10 most innovative cities”

Estado (Brazil): ” Boston is the world’s most innovative city(Boston é a cidade mais inovadora do mundo)”

Exame (Brazil): ” Why Brazil is not in the ranking of the 100 innovative cities(Por que o Brasil não está no ranking das 100 cidades inovadoras)”

Exame (Brazil): “Check out Boston, the city’s most innovative on the planet(Conheça Boston, a cidade mais inovadora do planeta)”

Forbes previously mentioned us here

Thanks to the Mayor of Boston, Thomas Menino’s shout out for 2thinknow at the Mass Innovation awards (which spies told us got a whooping round of applause). We heard a few other mayoral stories, including some mentions by our own Mayor Robert Doyle, of Melbourne.

Thanks as always, to our friend in the innovation economy, Rich Bendis of Innovation America — for his coverage here.

Some other interesting mentions were the World Future Society, Bost Innovation, Mayor Menino vs Mayor Bloomberg (!), Washington Clean Energy and quite a few others.

Please note we are aware of printed newspaper articles which we may not have captured. If there are any significant articles captured not listed here, you can let us know and we will up date this site.

The analysts at 2thinknow were of course flattered by this coverage for our innovation agency from these sources.

For Asian and Europe see this separate coverage.

Innovation, now.

The 2thinknow Innovation Technology™ Toolkit is designed to support innovation in cities, business & government, with:

Data, Analysis, Training & Events.

Available globally.

Ready-to-go resources.

]]> http://www.2thinknow.com/reference/the-worlds-first-innovation-agency/feed/ 0 http://www.2thinknow.com/reference/innovation-cities-index-2011-launched/ http://www.2thinknow.com/reference/innovation-cities-index-2011-launched/#comments Tue, 18 Oct 2011 09:29:25 +0000 2thinknow http://www.2thinknow.com/?p=3288 more

Who are 2thinknow?

2thinknow are the world’s first innovation agency. We offer services for innovation.

What innovation services do 2thinknow offer?

2thinknow services include data: City Benchmarking Data™, training: the Innovation Course™, and events: Local Innovation Forum™ events,

We also offer a range of custom innovation services with innovation analysis, innovation consulting and speaking.

Where is there more information on each of these innovation services?

Each individual product or service has it’s own pages and site, and are summarised in the toolkit section of this website as sites are expanded.

Where have I heard of 2thinknow?

2thinknow’s innovation services and programs have been mentioned in major news. Including in the Boston Globe, New York Times Opinion, Boston Herald, The Age, ABC Radio National, Fox, and others including a variety of local and regional news sources in a variety of languages. Read a selection of our favourite news stories here.

What types of innovation training workshops do you offer?

The Innovation Course™ as a standard 2 day workshop for learning innovation skills. This is also available also in a wide variety of custom formats, to suit you, with more details here.

Do you offer innovation consulting?

Innovation Consulting Services by 2thinknow are currently available.

Where do you offer innovation services?

This varies based on the service. See our service locations or ask us.

When did you make your first U.S. sales?

Our first (small) data sales in the U.S. was in 2008, after our research visits in 2006, 2007.

What about Europe analysis sales?

We visited Europe in 2005,6,7,8 and then our first analysis sales were in 2009.

Where did you give your first workshop?

In Melbourne Australia in 2007, on the topic of web 2.0 enabled innovation to a mix of government and corporate leaders.

Can your Executive Director speak at our conference?

Yes, for a reasonable fee. Also you may consider adding an affordable Local Innovation Forum™ event onto your conference, or staging one for your group.

Since when have 2thinknow been global?

We were ‘born global’. 2thinknow started offering a small range of data and analysis services overseas and in Australia in 2007.

Since 2011, our company now offers most services in USA, Canada, Australia, NZ, UK, Europe and some of Asia.

What languages do you deliver services in?

As an Australian-based company, we deliver services in English.

Do you have any plans to deliver services in German or French?

Yes, in 2012 or 2013 based on demand. So ask.

Are innovation speeches, training or events delivered in English?

Yes. If English is an issue, we suggest that a translator can be provided.

For training and speech customers, we are also able to provide some key written materials in French, German, etc. upon your request. We have some facility with French, German, and Serbo-Croat.

What about other languages?

Other languages for events and courses will be based on demand.

Is it possible to arrange translation for reports and data?

Yes, international translation can be provided at cost. We use quality human translation for analyst reports. Please allow an added 7-10 days for translation.

City Benchmarking Data is provided in English at this stage.

What about your website translations?

These are machine translations for your convenience. The quality relies largely on Google, Bing or other translations. Human website translations will be forthcoming in 2012 for most demanded languages.

Can I get a quote for any innovation services?

Yes, it’s simple — fill our our request for proposal form here or ask us to contact you.

How do you keep your prices low?

By designing processes for innovation, and using those processes to create superior outcomes for clients.

Why do you have everyday low prices for services?

Because we want to ensure the maximum uptake of our services, and we believe you will purchase again from us. We also do not want to become a pyramid style company, but rather a more open, creative, innovative firm. (Pyramid companies like big 4 management consultants are old economy, and can offer poor value for clients)

Do you offer fixed pricing or by the hour/day?

We offer fixed service pricing for all innovation services, except any really custom innovation consulting.

Why is fixed pricing better for me?

It’s cheaper for you, more certain, and means that our firm threw out the timesheets!

Will you participate in our tender process?

We do not normally participate in tenders, we believe our value is sufficient that we are better value than competing tenderers. (Tenders are normally about getting best value, by not passing on tendering costs we keep prices low). Prove our prices for your self — request a proposal!

I requested a proposal, and the price is lower than I expected– how can you do this?

2thinknow services achieve lower prices than larger consulting firms through our unique process.

I requested a quote and the price is too high for my budget, what can I do?

All 2thinknow proposals have variables you can adjust — included locations, no. of attendees, data indicators — to ensure it meets your needs.

What is the easiest method to pay for 2thinknow innovation services?

The quickest method for service delivery is payment by credit card or Paypal. This allows instant approval of your services.

Where can I find out more about payment options?

There is a convenient summary here, and each product site has an FAQ. If you’re not sure please ask us

Do you offer any free samples?

This varies by product. We prefer though generally to offer lower prices, rather than build in the cost of preparing free samples. If you’re unsure, ask!

Why services for innovation?

Because innovation is the early-stage leader of business growth and healthy communities.

What is unique about our thinking on innovation?

2thinknow is in the unique position to give our clients detailed intelligence on business and community segments of urban and regional economies, from an innovation view.

When we train, report or analyze for you as a client, we can tailor the output to your industry and key markets (not just ‘general concepts’).

2thinknow analysis allows us to tailor our approach to your industry.

What are the 31 industry & community segments?

The 31 industry and community segments are a way of segmenting market performance and changes. Segments include Business, Commerce, Sports, Music, Arts, Mobility, Military and other segments centered around customer needs to be fulfilled by the business, government and NGO sectors of urban and regional economies. The 31 industry and community segments are listed here.

What is your Innovation Cities™ Index?

The Innovation Cities™ Index is a world-leading index of cities, that classifies cities for the innovation economy. Our Index analysts rank the the top 100. The Innovation Cities™ Index is published by 2thinknow and our index is followed by 57% of major cities worldwide as at Sept 2011. Unlike other rankings it is based around actual job creation, and economic innovation through growing companies, and smart government.

Where can I find out more about the Innovation Cities™ Index and Program?

At our dedicated Innovation Cities site: www.innovation-cities.com

I am a journalist, I would like a quote, story or interview. What’s the quick way to contact you?

Please contact us here via special email here, for a rapid response.

Where has your Innovation Cities™ Program been mentioned?

The 2thinknow Innovation Cities™ Program has been featured in journals in North America — Municipal World, and Public Sector Digest. And also quoted in a growing mix of academic papers.

Do you collaborate with academics?

Yes. Bear in mind we have a commercial model, but please ask us, especially if your paper is peer-reviewed or part of a large institution.

Do you offer discounts for academics and libraries?

Yes. For all analysis reports and data we offer a 20% discount for tenured professors, PhD students and libraries — see to order a copy of the Innovation Cities Analysis report.

Can I ask my library to order the Innovation Cities Analysis report?

Yes. For a print copy of the Innovation Cities Analysis report — here’s the order form.

Can you recommend any good innovation books?

Yes. We have set-up an innovation book store, full of innovation books and good reading. The innovation bookstore is fulfilled by Amazon for 2thinknow.

Are 2thinknow active in social media?

Yes. You can follow us @2thinknow on twitter or join our LinkedIn group. See our social media and RSS pages for more.

Are 2thinknow a social business?

2thinknow are an innovation agency. We use social means to grow our business, and we price our products fairly and affordably, so that we can have maximum impact in the innovation economy.

What are your working hours?

Our office hours are 8.30 to 5.30 pm Australian EST.

We also have 1 to 2 members of online staff in Australia from 8am to 11 PM GMT (London time) and from 4pm to 6PM New York Time.

What does this mean?

This means if your in the North, we can work overnight your time, and provide answers for you next business day. Which is why we are so fast!

Sam, Chris and Eva help out with any enquiries, receipts, email responses, urgent requests during Northern Hemisphere hours.

How big is your firm?

We are a small firm based on a tight data-set, project teams and interns. We are ‘born global’ and based in Melbourne Australia.

Do you outsource any work or back-office?

We use some U.S. based services, but other than this do not outsource client work or our back office services to any country outside Australia . We sometimes partner with local firms for local clients.

What is the best way to get in touch?

Use the web form on any of our websites, these normally come through to our analysts within 15 minutes.

How quickly do you normally respond?

To new customer enquiries our response time is 12-24 hours anywhere in the world, although it can be as quick as under an hour (depending on your time difference with Australia).

How can I check my request has come through?

Look for a green success box below your submission. Very occasionally your computer browser may not complete the request properly. You should receive an email from us. Please send us a special email to follow-up if you are in any way unsure.

I sent a request via an online form, how long does it take for a response?

If you are requesting information form us normally 12-48 hours. If after 72 hours you have not received a response, please contact us via this special email — and our analysts will follow-up.

What languages do you use to communicate?

We prefer submissions in English, and answer in English. If you submit in another language, we will answer in English, and all our materials are in English. Our policy is to use English for all communications.

Is there any sort of requests you don’t respond to?

2thinknow analysts respond to all customer or prospective customer enquiries. We also respond to most other enquiries, except sales, unclear or overly general requests. Selling language (free, best ever, offer) may be flagged as spam, and may sometimes not be received.

Can you respond in French or German?

We have some French and German reading skills, and very basic French or German writing skills.

Can I have files sent encrypted &/or other security measures?

Yes, this is available to customers.

Can I fax you my order or request?

Yes. See our contact details for current fax number(s) here.

Do you have a global network of connections?

Yes. We have been building global connections in over 100 cities since 2006.

Are you setting up many offices?

As we have entered product stage in 2010/11, we will establish more branch offices / phone answering in more locations once possible. This is based on country sales from 2011 onwards.

How do you deliver your services?

Data services are delivered to your email, we can provide support via email, phone or video skype.

In-person services are delivered at your office or CBD location.

Do you video conference?

We do analyst briefings by video conference exclusively with platinum customers.

Are 2thinknow multicultural?

Yes. None of us were born in the same-city! We embrace difference: different cultures, and understandings, as part of innovation.

When and where was 2thinknow set-up?

We were established in Melbourne August 2006.

Are you really the world’s first innovation agency?

Yes. We were established in August 2006, and believe we were the first to use the term.

How do 2thinknow add value?

Our proprietary innovation technology enables us to model successful change on a:

1. Geo spatial analysis (Cities)
2. Structural analysis (business/govt) and a
3. Time analysis (Trends).

2thinknow are leaders in this field of innovation modelling and analysis. Our innovation models and services derive from this.

What innovation models do 2thinknow have?

Innovation models that range from in-use production models (e.g. Innovation Cities™ Framework, HI Loop) to beta prototypes (Change Trends) and experimental concepts.

What are 3 easy ways to leverage your innovation models?

1) Commissioning City Benchmarking Data™ or innovation analyst reports for comparing markets / cities.

2) A tailored Local Innovation Forum™ event or the Innovation Course™.

3) Innovation Consulting services for areas such as metric design or new processes, ideas and marketing.

When are you launching new product websites?

We are doing a rolling launch of new websites in 2011. They will be launched in your area soon.

Why do 2thinknow innovation analysis and city-based data help innovation?

Our customers use analyst reports to understand concepts. Benchmarking data to measure performance, and change progress. And courses & events for transferring the change skills, across their organizaation.

For customers, it is possible to create change projects that can change companies, cities and government in controlled stages with innovation as a process.

Who are your product customers or service clients?

A mix of corporations, R&D firms, researchers, consultants, city governments, state government, national government, think tanks and others.

What do 2thinknow believe?

We believe in supporting small, medium and growth businesses / teams so they can grow to be bastions of the innovation economy. We believe in supporting big business and government in adapting to the innovation economy. We believe in giving communities tools to transition to the innovation economy, using a structured, rational approach.

We’d like to collaborate on a project can we?

Collaboration is a broad term. We will only collaborate on very attractive and/or clear projects. As a professional firm, we prefer clear definitions and proposals, rather than ‘fuzzy’ collaborations.

Do you have a summary of founding principles?

Yes, we know what they are. We’ve tried to document these from time to time, to no real success. We don’t want a stagnant vision statement. The evolve fairness and socially beneficial change.

Innovation, is the short answer!

Do you have or seek investors?

To leverage our innovation models we seek the right professional fit for sponsorship, VCs and angel funding. See investors or contact us.

How do you create change?

We give you in business, government and community tools to create change.

Can I get a job with 2thinknow?

We recruit and train people, including interns. We will post any positions vacant here.

We are based in Melbourne, Australia.

What is your role in the innovation economy?

Toolkit creation for your use. We don’t tell you ‘what to change’, except in analysis recommendations related to change trends. We do however have general positive social change values as explained above.

Are there are any clients we won’t work for?

As a socially responsible company, 2thinknow avoid any client in adult services industry, gambling, privately destructive industries or any company program that continues to worsen the human condition.

Is that subjective?

It has to be! We are not wowsers, and we are not against smoking and drinking. 2thinknow make an ethical decision not to service companies or programs that create poor social outcomes. Gambling is among the worst in this category, yet  conversely we have no blanket issue with alcohol, oil, firearms or tobacco as a concept. So decisions are case by case.

Are there any charities you feel strongly about?

Mental health — and any thing that impacts mental health.

Do you have an environmental and equal opportunity policies?

Yes.

Crazy questions: Why don’t you give away everything for free?

Because free doesn’t create the money to fund further development. Free is a bad business and social model for creating change. In economist-speak ‘free externalises costs’.

What is your unique advantage?

Proprietary innovation models and tools which include the HI loop, change behaviors, trend analysis and the Innovation Cities™ Framework. These are both predictive and supportive of creating successful change.

When was the company established?

1999 for the trading company. 2thinknow was established 2006 as a brand.

Who is your Executive Director?

Christopher Hire, an analyst/presenter from government and business, with 13 years experience.

How do you compete with large consulting firms on large projects?

We sell defined products and services such as City Benchmarking Data™ or the Innovation Course™. We believe in knowledge transfer to our clients, and are priced significantly lower than large firms.

Will you give us data, reports etc for free?

Ahem. No. If you want them for free spend the tens of thousands of hours and many more dollars to create models, data points and case studies. Do not ask us. Not even nicely.

We are not funded by universities, government or charity. (It’s a bit of a gripe, when people ask for data for free!)

But isn’t everything free on the internet?

No. It’s subsidized by adverts (like T.V.) or paid for because someone is promoting a specific agenda. Often there is a hidden cost.

Being independent in our analysis, and having a thorough process, means you can trust our data is not influenced by our customers or anyone else.

If it’s free — it’s not free, and perhaps not well thought out.

I received a blocked message in my country for one of your websites?

This may be a government firewall (e.g some mid-East countries, Africa) directed at Western companies, or possibly our location security web IP filters which protect our customers.

I have another question not asked here, can you help?

Well congratulations on reaching the end of the FAQ! Virtual cake! There are all the product FAQs… or you can just ask us.

Recently 2thinknow were featured in Connected Magazine, Canada. Here’s a quote from the article:

Thanks to such a large population, Toronto exports the same amount of information and communication technology as the whole of Australia, and has a strong technology sector in terms of “human infrastructure,” says Christopher Hire, executive director of Australian consulting innovation analysts 2thinknow, which annually produces an innovation ranking of cities. . “Economically, Toronto has the right cluster of start-ups and business support,” Hire says. “Toronto is the most-connected Canadian city.”

The article was by editor / journalist Andy Holloway. The article focuses on tech innovation.

2thinknow measure broad-based innovation, including non-technological innovation. This includes 162 standard city indicators on all world cities. This underlying cities data in our analysis is available for Toronto, and over 300 world cities from: www.citybenchmarkingdata.com

Toronto, Canada is ranked #12 in our Innovation Cities Index 2010. This is a broad-based series of multi-indicator scores that explains Toronto’s ascent (however we re-balance factor weightings each year). The basis of the analysis, and 2010 rankings, is explained in the Innovation Cities Analysis Report: http://report.innovation-cities.com

The new 2011 index launches end of Q3, 2011. It will be available here: www.innovation-cities.com

New Canadian city data inclusions include Fredericton-St John, and Moncton.