The Internet of Cities is also a network of communities crossing borders, languages, culture and law in search of greater prosperity and human connection.

The internet brings the world to our door, for better or worse, in the place called home. Intelligent Communities make it for the better by proactively connecting with other cities that are open to change and forging relationships that lead to exchanges of business, learning, best practices and talent.

Examples from Intelligent Communities

Eindhoven, Netherlands
Eindhoven generates €24 billion of GDP and €55 billion in exports, one-quarter of the Dutch total. It absorbs 36% of all private Dutch R&D spending and is home to globally recognized companies including Philips, the healthcare, lighting and consumer product giant, and ASML, maker of photolithography equipment for the production of silicon chips. Eighteen percent of all Dutch automotive jobs are in Eindhoven, and nine percent of all life technology employment. More >>>

Stratford, Ontario, Canada
The economic development team has successfully sold Stratford as a test bed for tech-nology projects – a city large enough to give new technolo¬gies a meaningful test but easy to operate in due to its small size. Toshiba, Cisco, BlackBerry, Inter-Op and Clemson University all have pilots running in Stratford. These interna¬tional brand names lend validation to a strategy that has proven its value to the city. More >>>

Hsinchu County, Taiwan
The first science park in Taiwan, Hsinchu Science Park, was established in 1980 in Hsinchu County by the National Science Council. Its purpose was to attract international technology talent, drive traditional industrial transformation, encourage industry update, enhance international competitiveness of products and stimulate economic growth. Today, its 520 companies employ over 150,000 people and generate US$30 billion in total revenue. They specialize in fields ranging from IC design, LCDs and solar cells to the Internet of Things, Big Data, cloud and 4G wireless technologies. In addition to driving the overall economic development of Taiwan, Hsinchu Science Park has improved Taiwan’s education direction, attracted many international companies to invest in Taiwan and aided in the development of the Hsinchu County region. More >>>

San Diego, California, USA
With a Mediterranean climate, the city is a tourist destination that drew 32 million visitors in 2012. It hosts the largest naval fleet in the world in its deepwater port, which in turn has attracted major national defense contractors as employers. Bordering on Mexico, San Diego is also the busiest international crossing point in the world and handles the third-highest volume of trade among all US-Mexico land crossings. More >>>

Read the Report, “Creating City-to-City Connections”

The report details how two Intelligent Communities of the Year – Eindhoven, Netherlands and Waterloo, Ontario, Canada – built an effective cross-border economic development partnership. It is available free to ICF Member communities and for purchase to others. More >>>

Learn More from the Intelligent Community Network

Nearly 150 cities and regions have been named Intelligent Communities and each has made a unique contribution to our understanding of the Internet of Cities. More >>>

Take the First Step Toward Becoming an Intelligent Community

Take the Self-Test to learn about your community’s readiness.

Nominate your community for the Intelligent Community Awards and receive a detailed and confidential comparison to our global data set.

Select from the ICF library of books and white papers on Intelligent Communities.

Learn about the Community Accelerator, which prepares communities for progress as well as our Awards program.