# Helsinki fared excellently in the 2020 Smart City comparison

- Link: https://forumvirium.fi/en/smart-city-ranking-2020-helsinki-2/
- Published: 2021-01-20T08:20:28+02:00
- Author: Jussi Karmala

**Helsinki was ranked the world’s second best smart city and Finland was ranked 
Europe’s second most innovative country in the 2020 smart city comparison. **

### 1. The second best smart city in the world

The peak performance of 2020 was when Helsinki was ranked the world’s second best
smart city in the [IMD Smart City Index](https://www.imd.org/news/updates/singapore-helsinki-zurich-triumph-global-smart-city-index/)
survey. The survey is the world’s leading smart city comparison. Helsinki’s ranking
improved immensely. In 2018, Helsinki was ranked eighth in the comparison. The title
of the world’s best smart city was awarded to Singapore. After Helsinki, Zürich 
took third place, Auckland the fourth and Oslo the fifth.

### 2. Helsinki won the “Oscar” for smart city construction

The City of Helsinki won the main prize in the digital city series in the global
Year in Infrastructure Conference. The conference has also been called the “Academy
Awards” of urban construction and the infrastructure industry. The City of Helsinki
nabbed the main prize with its Digital City Synergy project, in which the digital
twin of Smart Kalasatama was one of the reasons for the win. A total of almost 400
cities and projects across the globe competed for the prize in different series.

### 3. Finland was ranked Europe’s second most innovative country

Finland was ranked the second most innovative country in all of Europe in the European
Commission’s annual Innovation Scorecard. The highest ranking was awarded to Sweden.
The other Nordic countries and the Netherlands were among the highest-rated countries.

### 4. Helsinki has the world’s second best working life balance

Helsinki has the world’s second best balance between work and leisure time, as indicated
by the 2020 comparison by [Kisi](https://www.getkisi.com/work-life-balance-2020).
The best balance is in Oslo, while Finland is followed by Copenhagen, Hamburg and
Berlin.

### 5. Helsinki has the world’s fourth best startup ecosystem

Startup Genome’s report indicates that Helsinki has the world’s fourth best ecosystem
for startup companies. The report applauds the public sector for its good co-operation
with startups.

In addition to these, Finland was named the world’s happiest country in the World
Happiness Report in 2020, for the third year in a row. According to the World Economic
Forum’s comparison, Finland’s clean energy use potential is the world’s third highest.
The European Commission’s Digital Economy and Society Index indicates that Finland’s
digital economy and society are at the highest level of development in Europe.

_Photo: Vesa Laitinen_

**Further information**

![Kuva](https://forumvirium.fi/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/managing-director.jpg)

#### Mika Malin

 Mobile: +358 40 668 5599
 mika.malin(at)forumvirium.fi

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