Paris crowned most innovative city in the world

By

Matthieu Guinebault

Translated by
Benjamin Fitzgerald

Published
Nov 10, 2017

The French capital has been awarded the "European Capital of Innovation" prize for 2017, as decided by Horizon 2020, the European Union's research and innovation program.

A check to the value of one million euros was awarded to the mayor of Paris during a ceremony, which took place as part of the 9th edition of the Web Summit, held November 7 to 9 in Lisbon. Among the 32 cities and 17 nationalities in the competition, other award recipients were Tallinn in Estonia and Tel Aviv in Israel. 

The award comes as Paris proudly claims its positive perception by international professionals. The capital has also been ranked third for the city with the most economic future, according to Global Cities 2017; the third global city in terms for intellectual capital and innovation, according to Cities of Opportunities 2016, and took third place as the most welcoming city for foreign investment, according to Présence 2015. 

Paris currently has some 30 Fab Labs dedicated to digital manufacturing, approximately 60 incubators including Station F, the largest in the world, as well as 80 co-working spaces.