From Smart City to Intelligent Community
From Smart City to Intelligent Community was developed to help communities turn their broadband and other digital assets into economic growth, stronger social and com­munity bonds, and better quality of life. It assumes that your community already has adequate broadband connectivity in place and is ready to take the next steps: becoming more engaged, taking on leadership roles in defining issues, and developing practical plans that can lead to realistic and affordable solutions. It speaks to community leaders in local governments and regional districts, to members of legislatures, educators, technology providers, business leaders, agencies, economic development and regional planning organizations. It will help kickstart community efforts to use digital connectivity to improve life in the most important place on earth – the place called home.

Humanizing Data: Using Big Data and Open Data to Engage, Help and Serve the Community
ICF selects a theme each year to supplement the six indicators of the ICF Method on which the selection of the Smart21, Top7 and Intelligent Community of the Year is based. In the 2017-2018 Awards cycle, ICF focused on Humanizing Data because data has become the heartbeat of the new economy and the lifeblood of smart public policy in the 21st Century. This report provides many examples of what the top Intelligent Communities of 2018 have done to humanize data for their people, businesses and institutions – from driving economic growth to reducing inequality, increasing sustainability to improving urban planning.

The Intelligent Community in Numbers 2017
This new research report is a statistical portrait of the Intelligent Community, a snapshot based on data submitted to ICF by hundreds of communities of every size, on every continent and in both rural and urban settings. The 2017 Portrait is based on the 200 most recent questionnaires submitted to the Forum. They come from the US and Canada, Taiwan, Greece, Russia, Kenya, Brazil, Japan, India, Australia and New Zealand. Their populations range from 2,000 to 12 million, and their population density from 2 to 13,000 persons per square kilometer.

Sharpening Canada’s Competitive Edge
Since the Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) announced its first list of the Top7 Intelligent Communities of the Year, Canadian cities have made a near-annual appearance on ICF’s honor role. From 2002 through 2016, a total of 27 cities and regions in Canada have passed through ICF’s rigorous evaluation process to qualify as a Smart21 semi-finalist, a Top7 finalist or the Intelligent Community of the Year. In the second half of 2015, the Intelligent Communities Group (ICG) conducted an in-depth survey of the nation’s Intelligent Communities on behalf of ICF Canada using a questionnaire based on the methodology developed by the Intelligent Community Forum in its annual Awards program and Accelerator service. This report is based on the quantitative and qualitative data gathered through the ICF Canada survey process.

Creating City-to-City Connections
In business and economic development, relationship is key. This is true within a city, town or region, and is even more critical in attracting talent, investment and employment from outside. This report provides a case study of how two cities on opposite sides of the Atlantic – each named an Intelligent Community of the Year by ICF – built a relationship that translated into economic value, with the promise of much more to come. It offers specific guidance in such critical areas as identifying prospective partner communities, setting expectations, aligning goals and maintaining momentum. But it is important to state at the outset that none of the ideas, strategies or projects can succeed without the binding power of trusted relationships that originated in the Intelligent Community Forum.