DE S T INAT IONS
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WORK-LIFE BALANCE According to the “2017 Better Life” report from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation Development (OECD), Danish people have one of the best work-life balances in the world, with only 2 per cent regularly working long hours (more than 50 a week), compared to the international average of 13 per cent. At the same time, in a study from Expert Market that divided the GDP of the world’s biggest economies by the number of hours worked per person, Denmark was ranked the fourth most productive country in the world (after Luxembourg, Norway and Sweden, respectively). What’s more, Denmark is consistently voted the best place in the world to be a woman – thanks to its flexible parental leave policy, its earnings-based childcare system and its active promotion of gender equality. To top it all off, national healthcare and education are virtually free.
A SCANDI STATE OF MIND It’s easy to paint Denmark as a utopia when, of course, not everything is rosy. Its harsh anti-immigration policies have been widely criticised by the international community, and its normally buoyant economy had taken a slight dip at the time of writing. But overall, Denmark’s progressive nature has created a
society outsiders look upon with admiration, and a fitting business environment for blue-sky thinking. A key aspect of this is Denmark’s digitised lifestyle, which cultivates
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great conditions for launching new products. “The Danish government committed to the digital agenda early on,” says Lonborg. “Everything from renewing your passport to getting a work permit has been completely digitalised. “As a citizen, if every time you interact with your
government, it’s digital, you automatically become much more tech savvy, which develops quite an interesting test market for new technologies. I think that savviness is what’s driving and inspiring people here.” Skype (a joint venture with Stockholm-based
entrepreneurs), Unity (the creators of the leading global platform for building computer games) and Just Eat are some of the success stories from Copenhagen’s thriving tech sector, each of them unicorns (companies valued at more than US$1 billion). Major IT corporations have a presence in the city, including IBM, Microsoft and Google, which has its Nordic headquarters here. What’s more, the University of California established its first out-of-state university campus in the Danish capital. How do Copenhagen’s start-up conditions compare
ABOVE FROM FAR LEFT: A cyclist in Christianshavn; Amager Square; and the inner harbour bridge
to the other Scandinavian capitals? “There are probably more similarities between the Nordic countries than there are differences,” says Lonborg. “We have so much shared history and culture. Having said that, there are a few ways in which Copenhagen stands out. We have the best-connected airport in the Nordic region. In a regional context, we’re not that expensive. And it’s very easy to work with the authorities.”
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