(March 8, 2022 – New York City) – The Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) today announced the launch of new online courses in economic and community development for the digital age as part of its Community Accelerator program. The Community Accelerator is a set of online courses that train the champions of change in your city or region in assembling the key building blocks of growth in 2022: affordable and high-quality broadband connectivity, an education system that produces a skilled workforce and innovation in business and government. It offers detailed roadmaps, illustrated with real-world examples, of successful economic strategies, team-building, community engagement, regional partnerships and much more.

The Accelerator is for elected and administrative officials in government, educators, business executives and community and nonprofit leaders. Each course includes video instruction, community case studies, comprehension tests and a rich array of additional content. For a limited time, those interested may register for the full seven-course series at half price and receive alerts as new courses are added. ICF Full Members have access to the online Accelerator for free.

“The Accelerator is based on two decades of experience identifying best practices for adapting to the demands of the digital age and working with communities of all sizes around the world,” said ICF co-founder Robert Bell. “After years of presenting in-person workshops, we are doing what we always advise: adapting to a world that has been prepared by the pandemic to learn online.”

More about the Community Accelerator
The Accelerator (www.icfaccelerator.com) is based on experience with community development in North and South America, Europe, Asia and Africa. It teaches how to grow your community’s economy, strengthen its social bonds and enrich its culture. These are the things that can make your community a great place to live, work, build a business, raise a family and create a sustainable future.

Those things have never been harder to achieve. The Accelerator shows you how hundreds of places around the world have done it, regardless of location or size. In today’s digital age, almost every place can have a dynamic economy if they know how to build it, and to use that inclusive prosperity to create stronger social ties and deeper cultural connection.

Each course in the Accelerator provides instruction and real-world case studies from an ICF co-founder. Comprehension tests after each course aid your understanding, and a wealth of written, video and audio content adds to your knowledge. The Accelerator does more than educate. To start, ICF recommends that a city or region’s core development team take the courses, either individually or as a group. What they learn will guide the creation of a strategy for economic, social and cultural development that creates a strong and sustainable future for the community.

About the Intelligent Community Forum
The Intelligent Community Forum (www.intelligentcommunity.org), headquartered in New York, is a global movement of 190 cities, metro regions and counties with a think tank at its heart and a mission to give everyone’s “hometown” a prosperous and inclusive future. ICF studies and promotes the best practices of the world's Intelligent Communities as they adapt to the new demands and seize the opportunities presented by information and communications technology (ICT). To help cities and regions build prosperous economies, solve social problems and enrich local cultures, the Intelligent Community Forum conducts research, hosts events around the globe, publishes books, and produces its high-profile annual international awards program. The Forum sponsors research Institutes in North America 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 was 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, visit www.intelligentcommunity.org.

Intelligent Community Forum Contacts
Matthew Owen
Director of Operations
Intelligent Community Forum
Phone: +1 646-291-6166 (x105)
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @Newcommunities

Victoria Krisman
Communications Manager
Intelligent Community Forum
Email: [email protected]