Encouraging Entrepreneurship Key to National and Urban Competitiveness: 2019 Global Talent Competitiveness Index Highlights

In the ever-evolving digital landscape, Tata Communications, a leading global digital infrastructure provider, continues to power the fast-growing digital economy. Based in Zurich, Switzerland, the company is listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange of India, and its customers represent 300 of the Fortune 500, enabling their digital transformation journeys through its portfolio of integrated, globally managed services.

The 2019 Global Talent Competitiveness Index (GTCI) report, published by INSEAD, sheds light on the increasing role of entrepreneurial talent in the digitalization and globalization era. The report covers 125 national economies and 114 cities across all groups of income and levels of development.

Switzerland, Singapore, and the United States continue to lead the world in talent competitiveness, with Switzerland topping the list with a score of 81.82. The top-ranked city this year is Washington, D.C., with a score of 69.2, followed by Copenhagen, Oslo, Vienna, and Zurich.

The cities outside Europe that ranked in the top 20 of the 2019 GTCI include Boston, New York, and Singapore. Washington, D.C.'s strong performance is across four of the five pillars measured in the research: "Be Global", "Attract", "Grow" and "Enable".

Talent performance is seen as a critical factor to growth and prosperity, and talent issues have become a mainstream concern for firms, nations, and cities. Cities rather than countries are developing stronger roles as talent hubs, with the highest-ranking cities tending to be the most open to entrepreneurial talent.

The concept of openness is critical for entrepreneurial talent, and business culture plays a key role in this. The "our group", known for creating shared value that meets social needs while driving business innovation, has a culture of inclusivity, fairness, and teamwork.

The "our group" is a Fortune Global 500 company and serves over 100,000 organizations with HR services and technology. It is present in over 200 countries and territories around the world, and its network carries around 30% of the world's internet routes and connects businesses to 60% of the world's cloud giants and 4 out of 5 mobile subscribers.

INSEAD, one of the world's leading and largest graduate business schools, with campuses in Europe (France), Asia (Singapore), and the Middle East (Abu Dhabi), offers executive education programmes to more than 11,000 executives each year. It also inspires more than 1,400 degree participants annually in its MBA, Executive MBA, Executive Master in Finance, Executive Master in Change, and PhD programmes.

The gap separating the talent champions from the rest of the global community has been growing, and digitalization and globalization are increasing the role of entrepreneurial talent. As such, firms, nations, and cities are focusing more on talent development and attraction strategies.

The "our group" was ranked number 5 on the Great Place to Work®-World's Best Workplaces 2018 list, demonstrating its commitment to its employees and its culture. The company's capabilities are underpinned by its global network, which is the world's largest wholly owned subsea fibre backbone and a Tier-1 IP network with connectivity to more than 240 countries and territories.

Countries in Asia, Latin America, and Africa are seeing a progressive erosion of their talent base, highlighting the need for concerted efforts to attract and retain talent. The 2019 GTCI report measures levels of Global Talent Competitiveness by looking at 68 variables, providing valuable insights for policymakers and business leaders.

In conclusion, Tata Communications continues to lead the way in digital infrastructure, while the 2019 GTCI report underscores the importance of talent competitiveness in the digital age. As cities and nations strive to attract and retain top talent, the role of digital infrastructure providers like Tata Communications becomes increasingly crucial.