(3 December 2025 – New York City, NY, USA & Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam) – The Intelligent Community Forum today named the Region of Durham, Ontario, Canada, as the 2025 Intelligent Community of the Year. Formally The Regional Municipality of Durham, the community is a regional government that provides shared services for eight municipalities. The announcement was made during the annual Intelligent Community Awards Dinner at the 2025 ICF Global Summit in Binh Duong Ward, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. (www.icfsummit.com)
“Durham Region has made careful, conscious use of the Community Accelerator Strategy for years, adapting ICF fundamentals to meet the unique needs of its municipalities and the large area it serves,” said ICF Co-Founder Robert Bell. “They richly deserve this honor and the Intelligent Community Certification they received along the way.” Durham Region succeeds Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil, as ICF’s Intelligent Community of the Year. Representing Curitiba at the ICF Summit was Dario Paixão, President of the Curitiba Agency of Development and Innovation. Mr. Paixão read the announcement naming Durham Region as Intelligent Community of the year, welcoming them into the list of communities to receive this honor. Curitiba will also be hosting the 2026 ICF Smart21 Conference in the last week of March as part of the activities taking place that week for the SmartCity Expo Curitiba.
Durham Region was selected after more than a year of evaluation that included a quantitative analysis of extensive data, a site audit by an Intelligent Community Forum Auditor and votes from an international jury made up of experts from around the world. Communities in the Awards program are evaluated based on six Factors making up the Community Accelerator Strategy, which combine to produce inclusive economic growth, strengthen social connection and support rich and meaningful cultures. The other six finalists competing with Durham Region for Intelligent Community of 2025 were Assaí, Paraná, Brazil; Bursa Metropolitan Municipality, Türkiye; Fairfield/Jefferson County, Iowa, USA; Hilliard, Ohio, USA; Kingston, Ontario, Canada, and Las Rozas de Madrid, Spain.
The 2025 ICF Global Summit continues tomorrow, as attendees will make site visits of the Binh Duong Ward in Ho Chi Minh City, experiencing the remarkable innovations that made this the 2023 Intelligent Community of the Year. Select participants in ICF’s VIP Delegation will continue on for an additional day of meetings and site visits in Ho Chi Minh City on Friday.
The 2025 ICF Global Summit was hosted by the Peoples’ Committee of Ho Chi Minh City, with support from the Department of Science and Technology and the Becamex Group.
More about Durham Region, Ontario, Canada: 2025 Intelligent Community of the Year
The Regional Municipality of Durham, known informally as Durham Region, was founded in 1974 to address the needs of this rapidly expanding area. With a current population of more than 750,000 that is projected to reach 1.3 million by 2051, the demand for efficient, coordinated regional services continues to grow.
Today, Durham Region provides shared services and program coordination to eight local area municipalities made up of eight municipalities in Ontario, Canada: the Town of Ajax, the Township of Brock, the Municipality of Clarington, the City of Oshawa, the City of Pickering, the Township of Scugog, the Township of Uxbridge, and the Town of Whitby. These services support diverse communities and a range of economic sectors from agriculture to clean energy. With 80% of Durham Region zoned as protected green space or agricultural lands, agriculture is a major sector in the region.
Durham Region is the Clean Energy Capital of Canada, providing about 30% of the province's energy needs. Energy engineering is a major employer as a result, with innovative projects like the first grid-tied small modular reactor being developed in the region. Durham is also home to automotive manufacturing, a thriving film production industry, and globally recognized research facilities such as the multi-climate ACE Climatic Aerodynamic Wind Tunnel. Read more about Durham Region.
More About Intelligent Community Forum
Starting in 2000 with a research project comparing cities in various nations, the Intelligent Community Forum (www.intelligentcommunity.org) created a unique, data-driven approach to development that puts citizens first while tapping the enormous economic and social potential of technology. In a world dominated by digital, ICF’s mission is to help communities create innovative, sustainable and growing economies, inclusive societies and affirming cultures open to the world. We do it for communities large and small – in urban clusters, outlying suburbs and rural places – through training, consulting, assessment, certification and award programs. ICF believes that digital connectivity and technology create the opportunity for almost every community to develop a dynamic local economy and the social and cultural strengths that go with it – giving them all a chance to be great places to live, work, learn, grow, raise a family and prepare a sustainable path for the next generation.
The Forum sponsors Institutes in North America and Taiwan dedicated to the study of the movement, and national organizations in Canada and Taiwan, both home to many Intelligent Communities. In 2012 ICF was invited to participate at the Nobel Peace Prize conference in Oslo and in 2014, its model and work were recognized by the U.S. Department of Commerce under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, which, according to the American government, was “aimed at creating a more flexible and responsive system of workforce development to meet the needs of employers looking to fill 21st century jobs.”
For more details on the Intelligent Community Forum’s programs and publications, go to www.intelligentcommunity.org.
Contacts
Matthew Owen, Executive Director, Intelligent Community Forum
[email protected]
Auri Yates, Content and Communications Director, Intelligent Community Forum
[email protected]
