The Nordic European region still dominates the rankings of the most network-ready economies, but the U.S., Korea, and Switzerland posted big gains this year. Whereas the Netherlands drop one spot and is now ranking 7th. A complete ranking of the top ten can be found here.
Tag Archive for 'Ranking'
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The OECD published the yearly report on Broadband utilisation within OECD countries. Denmark is ranking on top with respect to broadband penetration rates. Please find the full report here and the top ten ranking composed by BusinessWeek here.
According to research by OECD South Korean workers toil for over 45 hours every week on average, nearly seven hours longer than workers in any other OECD country.
The Netherlands has the shortest working week out of all OECD countries. However where more people work part-time the average working week is likely to be shorter. The Netherlands, where 45% of workers are part-timers, the highest proportion in any OECD country, has therefore the shortest working week.
Americans put in 15% more hours on average than workers in the western (richer) bit of the European Union. Owing to flexible arrangements for part-time workers, generous welfare systems and a limit on the working week all contribute to Western Europe’s seeming indolence.
Oslo (Norway) is the priciest city in the world to live in according to the Economist Intelligence Unit. In its latest twice-yearly index of over 130 cities, in which 160 items are assessed, Norway’s capital has been the costliest since 2005, when it toppled Tokyo from the top spot.
European cities dominate the list, reflecting the weakness of the dollar. New York is still the most expensive city outside of Europe or Asia, but it has slipped from 28th to 39th in a year. Relocating to Latin America or India would get you a lot more for your Euro.
The highlights of the ranking can be found here. More on the methodological approach of the conducted survey can be found here.
Every year Fast Company ranks cities across the globe along 9 categories: Creative-class Meccas, Green Leaders, Culture Centres, Global Villages, High-Tech Spots, Unexpected Oases, R&D Clusters, Urban Innovators, and Startup Hubs. This year’s list can be found here.
Surprisingly European cities are underexposed and so called “emerging economies” are represented well across all categories. In my opinion the list of high-tech spots is quite surprising.
Additionally, as the author Andrew Park points out “You’re smart, young, newly graduated from a university with the whole world before you. You could settle in a small town with well-tended lawns, pancake suppers, and life on a human scale. Or you could truck it to the big city, with all its din and dog-eat-dog lunacy. Your choice?”
Exactly this choice is occupying my mind lately as I will graduate in one month! Shall I move to one of the Creative-class Meccas, Startup hubs, Global Villages or start off my working career in a more familiar sphere?
Ranked upon holdings of tier-one capital, Bank of America is the biggest bank these days, according research conducted by The Banker Magazine. Surprisingly to this year’s list is that two Chinese banks made it in the top 10.
The Northern Europeans are the happiest, according to a biannual European social survey conducted by Corrado & Aslam, Cambridge University.
The Danes are topping the list while Italy is on the bottom. The Dutch are fifth which is quite representative I guess! The sample size of the study was 20,000 responses spread over 15 European countries.
The major factors influencing happiness according Corrado & Aslam (2007) are the quality of social interactions with others and confidence and trust in national government and institutions. Check out this website for more technical information on the European happiness survey.
MIT Technology Review has lined-up the 10 emerging technologies for 2007 that will most likely alter industry boundaries and even our lives. The ten technologies can be categorised into information, nano, and bio technology related fields. A short description of each technology can be found here.
# Optical antennas
# Metamaterials
# Peer-to-peer video
# Personalized medical monitors
# Compressive sensing
# Nanohealing
# Quantum-dot solar power
# Neuron contro
# Single-cell analysis
# Mobile augmented reality
Check out MIT’s technology Review webpage for a full coverage of these ten technologies.
Yesterday BusinessWeek published eight top tech trends to follow in 2007. One of them the “touch wall” which was first introduced to the wide public in 2002 with the movie “Minority Report”. I really look forward to work with it!
In addition BusinessWeek also listed the tech companies to watch in 2007. It includes one Chinese company, two European companies and five American companies. My favourite company on the list the London based Last.FM. It gives you the opportunity to discover new music!
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