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Global Talent Index

Bentley University Professor Pierre Berthon developed the methodology to help determine which cities around the world have the most intellectual capital as part of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce Global Talent Index (GTI). Professor Ian Cross, director of Bentley’s Center for Marketing Technology, coordinated the project. The recently released index is a ranking of 30 leading U.S. and international metropolitan areas designed to compare each region’s talent pool and resulting innovation. Based on the average of three data points for each region – university academic performance, college degree holders, and number of patents – the Index ranked Greater Boston number one, followed by London, Beijing, San Francisco, and Paris.

“Obviously people know that Boston is brimming with smart and creative people but this had never been captured in an objective measure like the talent index,” says Pierre Berthon, Clifford F. Youse Chair of Marketing & Strategy. “Our hope is that this index can be used on an ongoing basis to drive investment – from a political and a business perspective. Boston won't retain its number one position unless politicians, business, educators and researchers work together. “

To compile the index, PricewaterhouseCoopers collected data for 30 major metropolitan regions around the world: 15 US regions and 15 international regions. U.S. regions were selected on the basis of population, with the 15 largest Metropolitan Statistical Areas in the country being included.  International regions were selected on the basis of size and global prominence.

The index is comprised of three sub-indices, each measured on a scale of 1 to 100, with 100 representing the highest-performing region.  For each region, the three subindex scores were averaged together to produce a Global Talent Index score, with equal weighting of the three metrics.

“Bentley's Center for Marketing Technology is pleased to have engaged with the Chamber and PwC to create a methodology and research approach that identifies the global drivers and measures of talent,” said Ian Cross, CMT Director. “We believe this ongoing work will be useful to highlight areas of focus for innovation in Boston and major cities around the world.”

All data used in the Index came from external sources including the U.S. Census Bureau, Eurostat, U.S. Patent Office, QS Top Universities, Shanghai Jiao Tong University’s Center for World Class Universities, and more.

The Bentley Center for Marketing Technology supports the development of best practices in marketing strategy, research and customer insight that enables students, faculty and business professionals to implement innovative and actionable marketing programs. The CMT provides consulting, education and research for business partners and academia to deliver digital marketing, social media, data analytics and sustainable marketing strategies that shape our connected world.