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Rank: 1
Last Year's Rank: 1
Score: 74.6
The U.S. tops the index thanks to its role as a pacesetter in encouraging innovation and developing talent, but Europe and Asia are narrowing the gap. Some of the world's largest tech companies—from computer maker Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) to chipmaker Intel (INTC) to Internet leader Google (GOOG)—are based in the U.S.