The Nordics are finally represented in the top 20 of the Global Startup Ecosystem Report and Ranking published by Startup Genome. In the 2017 version of the report, Stockholm was ranked the 14th best city for startups in the world.

Among the other top contenders it ranked 17th in the performance category, 20th in funding, 18th in talent, and 12th in ‘startup experience’. What Stockholm really excels at is market reach, where it places 8th among the top 20 cities. A small domestic market means Swedish startups have an international mindset from the outset.

HANNOVER, Germany--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Eindhoven, Netherlands, will be the first city in the world to implement self-driving cars for large-scale commercial use. Steven Nelemans, CEO at Amber, made the announcement this week at the Hannover Messe, in Germany.

Together with several development partners including TomTom, KPN, TNO, NVIDIA, Microsoft, and the local Dutch municipalities of Eindhoven and Helmond, Amber plans to equip electric cars currently used in their business-to-business mobility service with automated driving capabilities. Amber plans to have the self-driving cars on the road in Eindhoven by mid-2018, expanding the service rapidly from there to the rest of the Netherlands and Europe. Companies in the Eindhoven region already using the Amber service will be the first to benefit from this new technology.

THE blazing Ipswich sun is proving itself to be an increasingly valuable resource.

As Queensland leads the national transition towards the use of solar power, Ipswich homes and businesses are more than pulling their weight when it comes to the uptake of solar across the nation.

WATERLOO REGION — Waterloo Region plans to join a project to build a high-speed fibre network across southwestern Ontario that's intended to fill gaps in Internet service, and make it more affordable and reliable.

Most of southwestern Ontario is not served by fibre-based Internet, and there are significant gaps in this region, particularly in rural areas, but also within the three cities that are served predominantly by two providers.

On a Spring afternoon, I’m gazing out the window of an ­office building on the outskirts of Estonia’s capital, ­Tallinn, watching people stroll below, when a cream-­colored plastic container mounted on black wheels rounds the corner and begins maneuvering its way among the pedestrians. The device looks like a kid’s toy. But in reality it’s a high-tech delivery robot called Starship and potentially the next mega-profitable invention to spring from this snowy, miniature country on the northern edge of Europe—one of the more unexpected launching pads on the planet. “If you look at sci-fi movies set 20 years from now, you don’t see people carrying their groceries. Robots just arrive at their homes,” says Ahti Heinla, cofounder and CEO of Starship Technologies. Reality, he says, has caught up to sci-fi. “About two years ago we realized it was possible to create this part of the future right now.”

MONTRÉAL, April 24, 2017 /CNW/ - Quebec's global leadership in digital industries, life sciences, advanced manufacturing and clean technology will drive economic growth and create the well-paying middle-class jobs of today and tomorrow.

That was the message delivered by David Lametti, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, the Honourable Navdeep Bains. Mr. Lametti delivered his remarks today at a conference hosted by TechnoMontréal, Greater Montréal's information and communications technologies cluster.

There wasn't much in the way of detail to flesh out a vague proposal of a Cooper Block community hub - but it's coming.

And soon local residents will get to have their say.

Community consultation will begin in May, CAO Rob Horne told city councillors at Monday night's meeting.

TAIPEI (Taiwan News)—Taiwan's Asian Silicon Valley project aims to foster the nation's domestic startups by offering more resources to entrepreneurs, said Minister of Economic Affairs Chih-Kung Lee (李世光) during the opening of 2017 Asia Silicon Valley International Summit Forum at Taoyuan City on Tuesday.

In addition, to seeking aid from foreign investments and companies, MOEA plans to form three large domestic enterprises, by merging small semiconductor, IoT, and self-driving car companies to compete with global players, said Lee.

If any exit can demonstrate how the economy benefits when a young company is bought by a larger company, it was IBM’s purchase of Q1 Labs of Fredericton in early 2012.

That purchase, reportedly worth more than $600 million, did more than just reward investors and staff at the cybersecurity company. It has led to hundreds of jobs in cybersecurity R&D in the New Brunswick capital, and made New Brunswick a genuine leader in research in cybersecurity, one of hottest segments of the IT world.

When Jacob de Geer’s ex-wife went to a trade fair seven years ago, she had a problem. More than half the potential customers for her glasses wanted to pay with credit and debit cards but as a small entrepreneur she could not afford to accept them. Most customers did not carry cash so went away empty-handed.

In response, Mr de Geer founded iZettle, a Swedish company that is not just one of the fastest-growing in the Nordics but in the top 25 of the FT 1000. iZettle provides card readers that can be plugged into smartphones or tablets to help small merchants with payments.