Having a well-educated workforce is an indicator of a city’s likely future performance as a hotspot for tech on the global stage.

Cities that have large pools of ambitious graduates are likely to develop strong tech start-up scenes as young entrepreneurs look to create digital solutions and services to address gaps they spy in the market. If they don’t have the inclination or resources to start their own companies, these graduates are still potential recruits for existing local companies looking to grow in the tech space.

Our Tech Cities 2017 metrics, below, show that Buenos Aires has the largest student population of the 22 cities we examined, with almost a quarter of a million people studying at high-quality universities or technical institutes. It is followed by Melbourne at over 200,000 students and London and Tokyo, which both approach the 200,000 milestone. Of course, a proportion of these students may not stay in the city post graduation, but some will, and a growing, high-quality university population is a good predictor of potential future tech performance.

More broadly, Buenos Aires and Melbourne both also have relatively young populations, with high ratios of milllennials to baby boomers, meaning that tech companies in these locations have easier access to a market of young consumers who are more likely to embrace and consume their new products and services.

Attracting and retaining talent is a major, if not the top issue facing tech companies today. But the type of employees these organisations want to appeal to are often very mobile and want more than just a well-paying job in an exciting company. They are looking to locate to cities that provide good career opportunities alongside a wider lifestyle offer, encompassing good shopping and restaurants, a thriving nightlife scene and arts and cultural institutions, in a healthy ‘liveable’ environment – preferably one that enables them to walk or cycle to the office.

For this reason Buenos Aires slips down our overall Tech Cities 2017 rankings, as it has yet to nail some of these components. It also has some work to do to improve other factors that are important to tech companies, such as access to tech infrastructure and the ease of doing business. We rank London 4th and Melbourne 14th overall as they offer a stronger tech and business environment, plus deliver on the lifestyle components workers are looking for (although London’s strong city ‘buzz’ outweighs its poorer performance in terms of ‘wellness’).

Education is an important part of the tech ecosystem, but success is not predicated on it alone. A variety of factors – some tangible, some less so – need to combine to ensure a city is a tech star.

Further information

Read more: Savills Tech Cities