< Previous96 JULY 2019 SI T E S E L E C T IO N • Louisville Metro, Microsoft, and the Brookings Institution will collaborate on a comprehensive local strategy focused on the impacts of AI, IoT and data science technologies on communities. • Microsoft will support the local entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystem through grants and other resources. Microsoft’s smart city infrastructure clients around the world include Houston and Denver in the U.S.; Cascais, Portugal; Tel Aviv, Israel; and Kiruna, Sweden. Slow Down, You Move Too Fast Could staying still be a smart move? Messe Frankfurt, the German trade fair, conference and event promoter, recently posted the following Q&A featuring a compelling European take on smart cities from Prof. Gesa Ziemer, professor of cultural theory and cultural practice, vice president of research at HafenCity University Hamburg and head of the City Science Lab, researching the future of cities and the mobility of tomorrow. Intermodality, networking, sharing, electric mobility and autonomous driving are the megatrends that will determine the mobility of tomorrow. In your opinion, which of these trends is of the greatest signi cance for inner city mobility? Prof. Gesa Ziemer: New technologies are important and public transport in particular needs to be developed. But I also see a completely diff erent aspect: the deceleration of mobility. I believe that we all move around far too much, and often for nonsensical things. is is something I also see in my everyday life. We’re invited to conferences in Shanghai or Kiev to off er input for fi ve minutes. But it’s completely absurd. What could this kind of deceleration look like? Ziemer: I’m imagining a city society that doesn’t constantly ferry people everywhere. is requires a city of short distances. is, in turn, is achieved by generating much more within the city itself to save on transport routes. And digitalization of course helps us to save a lot when it comes to distances. For example, Skype technology is improving all the time, so people don’t have to go to every single meeting anymore. An interesting aspect in this is the virtualization and augmentation of communication. At the moment we are still Skyping via a screen, i.e. a fl at surface. But if at some point we have the opportunity to talk to a person on the other side of the world in a virtual space as well as if we were standing next to each other, walking through the lab together and doing things virtually on site, then we wouldn’t need to fl y to the other end of the world as often. You still travel a lot around the world — which city do you think has the best mobility concept? Ziemer: Mobility is strongly dependent on culture, and aspects such as topography and weather of course also play an important role. Old urban structures, such as narrow streets or old trees, often make a change diffi cult. Two fantastic examples are Copenhagen and Amsterdam, for one reason in particular: Cars are banned from many parts of the city center and many people ride bicycles. And if you imagine a city without full parking places, you suddenly realize you have a lot of public space available. is is why people in cities like Copenhagen or Amsterdam simply spend much more of their time in their public spaces. at’s a huge quality in a city. On average, a private car stands still for 23 hours a day in Germany. Can there be any future at all for private vehicles in cities? Ziemer: My answer is quite clear: no. I still see vehicles being there in the delivery and goods sector, but private cars need to be taken out of S I T E S E L E C T I O N JULY 2019 97 city centers. But I see a lot of diff erent small vehicles fl owing smoothly. ey’re always in motion and hardly ever stand still. Mobility on demand, i.e. combining diff erent vehicles, will be the new trend. is is crucial in my opinion. is way, we can reduce the space needed for parking and people can move around more smoothly. I also believe that in the future the automotive industry will no longer build cars in the true sense of the word, but will develop new business models based on these diff erent vehicles, which are of course primarily data producers. e future of the automotive industry will involve new business models based on a lot of new data. However, it is important to me that not all the data goes to the companies. is is still a big problem at the moment. Cities are dependent on technical innovations and the help of companies. However, the data must remain accessible to all citizens in the city. What do you expect traf c in a major European city to be like in 2030? What mix of traf c will there be? What role will utopian-looking solutions such as fully autonomous vehicles and air taxis play, even now? Ziemer: As I said, I can only see a few classic vehicles in the delivery and goods sector and, above all, vehicles moving smoothly. I don’t see there being air traffi c, at least not on a large scale. We have a tendency to pack traffi c into the air because we drive too many vehicles on earth. But moving them all to the sky can’t be the solution. I believe that air transport is ultimately too expensive and is becoming more of an exclusive means of transport for wealthy people. Aside from all this, I’ll get back to my original point: I see deceleration. I see people walking and cycling more again, but generally moving less. At Art Basel in June, BMW together with Studio Roosegaarde invited visitors to experience “SYNC,” an immersive installation combining exible membranes, light and music inspired by BMW Vision iNEXT, and addressing the impact of human-centered design on space. Photo courtesy of BMW 100 JULY 2019 SI T E S E L E C T IO N Hubs & Outposts Could the best ecosystems for talent be more like islands than beehives? Instead of individuals moving to places where companies are growing and hiring, these days companies are doing their best to set up shop where the workforce they crave wants to live and grow. Metrics for such a quest are tough to come by. But one of the best is published by INSEAD, the international business school, with the collaboration of e Adecco Group and Tata Communications. With INSEAD’s permission, we present here excerpted fi ndings and commentary from the Global Talent Competitiveness Index (GTCI) covering countries, as well as the Global Cities Talent Competitiveness Index (GCTCI), which now includes cities. is year’s report focuses on entrepreneurial talent. GTCI will focus on the theme of “Global Talent in the Age of Artifi cial Intelligence.” Much of the analysis below is from INSEAD Executive Director for Global Indices Bruno Lanvin and INSEAD Consultant Michael Bratt. For the complete -page report and more, visit https://gtcistudy.com, where among other tools you can use the GTCI’s Talent Positioning System to compare countries and cities across infl uencing factors, and read commentary from global CEOs and startup founders about the role of entrepreneurial talent in global competition. — Editors Now in its sixth year, this edition of the GTCI addresses the topic of Entrepreneurial Talent and Global Competitiveness and attempts to identify the ways in which large and small fi rms, nations, and cities can foster entrepreneurial talent in the era of digital transformation. Based on feedback and further analyses following the release of previous editions, this year’s index includes variables. It covers national economies, across all groups of income and levels of development. e GTCI by ADAM BRUNS adam.br uns @ site s ele c tion.c om TECHNOLOGY & INNOVA TION INSEAD’s Global Talent Competitiveness Index o ers food for thought. Honeywell is relocating from New Jersey to Legacy Union in Uptown Charlotte, North Carolina, enabling talent recruitment. Image courtesy of Honeywell Talent Attraction & Retention S I T E S E L E C T I O N JULY 2019 101 is a composite index, relying on a simple but robust Input- Output model, composed of six pillars. Four pillars on the input side — Enable, Attract, Grow and Retain — focus on actions for policymakers and business leaders, and two output pillars benchmark national performances in Technical/Vocational and Global Knowledge skills. e top of the GTCI rankings (see next page) is still dominated by Europe. As was the case in previous editions, GTCI champions include a signi cant number of small high-income economies, many of them being either landlocked, island or quasi- island economies, including Switzerland ( st), Singapore ( nd), Luxembourg ( th), Iceland ( th), Austria ( th). Such economies have developed relatively open socio- economic policies in which talent growth and management are central priorities. All Nordic countries can also be found in this high- performance group. Almost all the countries ranked in the top in the GTCI were in that highest-performing group in last year’s index. In fact, only one country — Ireland ( th, down from th) — has dropped out of the top , with Germany ( th, up from th) being the new addition to the list. As for high-performing countries just outside the top , many of them are leaders in speci c pillars. Austria ( th overall) has the third- highest score in the Vocational and Technical Skills pillar. Similarly, the United Arab Emirates ( th) has the third-highest score in the Attract pillar, with Qatar ( th) also being a strong magnet for talent. Other countries that stand out in certain pillars are Israel ( th), which is a top performer in the Global Knowledge Skills pillar, and Japan ( nd), which scores well in the Enable pillar. Further down the rankings, it is interesting to note that Bahrain ( th) is among the top-performing countries when it comes to attracting talent. Regions and Cities Play More Prominent Roles e key signals emerging from this year’s Global Cities Talent Competitiveness Index (GCTCI) are the following: Cities and regions continue to play an increasingly important (and sometimes leading) role in shaping talent policies and strategies, as well as in trying and adapting imaginative ways in which talent can be grown, attracted, and retained locally. Entrepreneurial talent is critical to such local talent strategies, as smaller rms are generally more mobile. In this year’s ranking, European Nordic cities remain a strong component of the top talent performers (Copenhagen nd, Oslo rd, Helsinki th, Stockholm th); however, compared with previous years, we see a growth in ( ) the proportion of large cities (New York th, Paris th, Seoul th), ( ) the proportion of U.S. cities (Washington, D.C., st, Boston th, New York th, San Francisco th, Seattle th), and ( ) the number of Chinese cities covered ( this year, out of the ranked). e number of Chinese cities on the global talent radar screen is bound to continue to increase in the coming years, both for quantitative reasons (many are large entities, with a signi cant power to become talent magnets) and more qualitative ones (such as local e orts to develop smart cities all over China). Similarly, the improved rankings of both large metropolises and U.S. cities is a result not only of a stabilization of cities’ statistical de nitions (which rely more on “metropolitan areas” than on GTCI Rankings 2014–2016 & 2017–2019 2014-20162017-2019 Colors refer to income groups, which range from dark green (high income) to brown (low income).“cities” in the strict sense), but also on the fact that cities are adopting more visible pro les around a number of issues such as sustainability and climate change. Highlights and Conclusions Since the creation of GTCI, one of its central ndings has been that openness is key to talent competitiveness. Openness today means being open to entrepreneurial talent. Compared to previous editions, GCTCI shows a stronger performance by larger cities, in particular in the United States. is can be seen as evidence that cities can take on larger roles when nation-states tend to retreat from global commitments. Among other ndings: Talent inequalities are broadening. Looking back at the rst six years of the GTCI and comparing available data across time, one cannot escape the conclusion that the gap separating the talent champions from the rest has been growing rather than diminishing. e statistical correlation between income per capita and talent performance remains high, while some regions seem to be facing continued issues. Entrepreneurial talent can both broaden and reduce inequalities. Entrepreneurial talent plays a vital role in smaller rms (which are critical to job creation, 1 Switzerland 2 Singapore 3 USA 4 Norway 5 Denmark 6 Finland 7 Sweden 8 Netherlands 9 UK 10 Luxembourg 1 Washington, DC 2 Copenhagen 3 Oslo 4 Vienna 5 Zurich 6 Boston 7 Helsinki 8 New York 9 Paris 10 Seoul Global Talent Competitiveness Index 2019 by Country & City S I T E S E L E C T I O N JULY 2019 103 especially in developing economies) and startups (which are critical to innovation). Yet analyses such as the GTCI’s, as well as recent evidence from the business and economic scenes, show that entrepreneurial talent also has critical roles to play in larger organizations and even in governments. All components of the innovation ecosystem now need to enhance their efforts to attract, nurture and retain more entrepreneurial talent. New approaches are emerging to stimulate entrepreneurial talent. Such approaches include radically different management systems, some of which have not originated in the countries with the highest GTCI rankings. These approaches recognize that entrepreneurial talent is not a homogenous or fungible resource: An efficient entrepreneurial talent strategy needs to reflect the typical stages of a firm’s life cycle (start-up, scale-up, up to major player in a particular sector or geography), and requires different new tactics at every step. Such tactics have yet to be fully reflected in the curricula and practices of existing educational institutions, including business schools. Digitalization and globalization will increase the role of entrepreneurial talent. Because the future of work will be radically affected by the rapid spread of artificial intelligence (itself fed by the internet of things, big data, and deep learning), the proportion of salaried workers will continue to be reduced and the number of free agents to grow. Simultaneously, new business models (especially in a platform economy context) will emerge, triggering new ways to extract and share value from information. Such a fluid business and economic context will clearly favor the countries and organizations that have the ability to mobilize relevant entrepreneurial talents. Cities will play increasingly central roles as entrepreneurial talent hubs. Because entrepreneurial talent is strongly related to innovation, the building and management of dynamic (and open) ecosystems will be an increasingly important part of building an entrepreneurial culture and state of mind. The critical role already played by cities and regions to set up incubators and accelerators will become more and more relevant. Currently, most cities tend to build talent strategies around similar criteria (quality of life, connectivity, and sustainability, e.g.); few are targeting specialized talent linked to particular local issues or typical municipal issues (waste management, transport, and inclusion, among others). But this should be expected to emerge rapidly, in particular around smart cities’ strategies. There, too, entrepreneurial talent will be a key asset. 104 JULY 2019 SI T E S E L E C T IO N French Pharma Giant Launches Research Institute by MARK AREND mar k .ar end@ site s ele c tion.c om TECHNOLOGY & INNOVA TION: Research & Science Parks Servier, an independent, international pharmaceutical company, has begun development of its future Research Institute in the Paris-Saclay cluster. e new Servier Paris-Saclay Research Institute will house all of the Group’s research activities located in France by . “It is with great joy and pride to lay the foundation stone of the future Servier Paris-Saclay Research Institute, within this innovative and dynamic ecosystem,” said Olivier Laureau, president of Servier, at S I T E S E L E C T I O N JULY 2019 105 TECHNOLOGY & INNOVA TION: The University of New Orleans (UNO) and The Water Institute of the Gulf celebrated the Institute’s new home at the UNO Research and Technology Park in April. “This not only strengthens the partnership between the University of New Orleans and the Institute, it also allows us to leverage our respective field research capacities now and into the future to benefit the state and our other partners,” said Matthew Tarr, vice president for research and economic development at the University of New Orleans at an event marking the Institute’s new location. “The University of New Orleans’ expertise in areas such as environmental sciences, civil and environmental engineering, coastal resilience, and hazard mitigation makes it a natural partner with the Water Institute.” The Baton Rouge-based Institute has had a presence in New Orleans since its inception and has collaborated with Tulane University, Greater New Orleans Foundation (GNOF), GNO Inc., UNO and many other partners on a variety of projects around the city. A Natural Location “As the Institute continues to grow, we’re excited to deepen our roots in New Orleans and expand our partnerships here,” said Justin Ehrenwerth, Institute president and CEO. “We’re grateful to the Greater New Orleans Foundation for its support of our work in New Orleans and to the Baton Rouge Area Foundation for their founding vision and continued support of our ever-growing efforts to support coastal and deltaic communities in Louisiana and around the world.” “As a coastal city, New Orleans continues to adapt and learn new ways to live with water, whether that is from a severe rain event or from tropical storms,” said Andy Kopplin, president and CEO of the Greater New Orleans Foundation. “Supporting the Institute’s desire to have a deeper presence in the city and region builds on the years of leadership GNOF has provided in shepherding the movement to live with water and aligns with GNOF’s vision of a more vibrant, sustainable and just region for all.” “When the Baton Rouge Area Foundation brought together partners to create the Institute in 2012, it was always with the intent that the Institute would be a vehicle to bring great research minds together around the issues of water,” said John Davies, president and CEO of the Baton Rouge Area Foundation. “Seeing that work of collaboration around these vital issues expanding regionally and internationally is exciting.” “GNO, Inc. salutes the Water Institute for this partnership between industry and higher education. The Water Institute’s decision to locate at the University of New Orleans formalizes collective commitment to coastal restoration,” said Michael Hecht, president and CEO, Greater New Orleans, Inc. “We look forward to working with the Water Institute, UNO, and the Greater New Orleans Foundation to continue to implement the Coastal Master Plan.” WATER INSTITUTE DOCKS AT NEW ORLEANS TECH PARK Water Campus Courtesy of The Water Institute of the GulfNext >