Dallas’ burgeoning startup scene, its population of deep-pocketed venture capitalists, and futuristic innovations in neighborhood infrastructure have made it the most high-tech city in Texas, according to a new analysis and list published by Business Insider.
The list puts Dallas at the No. 11 spot among “the most high-tech cities in the world.” That’s a major leap from last year, when Dallas-Fort Worth was ranked at 28. The region — one could quibble, as usual, with the lumping in of Dallas with other North Texas cities, but let’s just take the compliment for today — trails behind Chicago (10), New York (2), and San Francisco (1), but we don’t see Houston or Austin cracking the Top 25.
To create the list, Business Insider enlisted 2thinknow, “a a research firm that specializes in analyzing innovative cities, to rank the most high-tech cities in the world.” From that article:
The firm chose 10 factors related to technological advancement — including the number of patents filed per capita, startups, tech venture capitalists, ranking in other innovation datasets, and level of smartphone use — weighted them, and ranked a list of 85 cities accordingly.
Dallas was cited specifically for its startups and the “integration of technology into the city landscape.” Recent developments in the West End, including environmental sensors and smart streetlights, would seem to embody the integration mentioned there. As for the other criteria, business is booming at the city’s patent office. Dallas has more than its fair share of tech venture capitalists encouraging job-seekers to move to the region. And, anecdotally, people here do love their smartphones.
Just wait until the flying cars start taking off.
Shout-out to our sister site, Dallas Innovates, for spotting this.
