(4 June 2025 – New York City, NY, USA & Limburg, The Netherlands) – The Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) announced today that the Brightlands-Limburg Region will host the 2026 Top7 Conference and Announcement, the second phase of ICF’s annual Awards Program. The event will bring together thought leaders from the global Intelligent Community movement for workshops, panel discussions, and keynote addresses, and will provide regional and international attendees with the opportunity to tour the Limburg Region, which exemplifies Intelligent Community development.
The conference will also feature the announcement of the Top7 Communities of 2026, finalists in ICF’s annual Intelligent Community Awards Program. The Top7 Communities are seven leading examples of excellence in Intelligent Community development in line with ICF’s Community Accelerator Strategy.
The Brightlands-Limburg Region made its debut in the Intelligent Community Awards as a Smart21 Community this year. A highlight of the Region is its four Brightlands campuses in Maastricht, Heerlen, Sittard-Geleen and Venlo. At these locations, more than 30,000 innovative entrepreneurs, talented researchers and promising students work every day on international breakthroughs in the field of sustainability, health, nutrition and digitalization.
The agreement was signed by ICF Executive Director Matthew Owen and the Regional Minister for Economy, Finance and Business Operations and Public Affairs for the Province of Limburg, Stephen Satijn, pictured above, on 26 May.
“It is an honour for the Province of Limburg and the Brightlands Campuses to co-host the Intelligent Community Forum’s 2026 Top7 Conference & Announcement,” said Regional Minister Stephan Satijn. “By welcoming global innovators to Limburg, we reaffirm our commitment to shaping a smarter, more sustainable, and truly connected future for our region and beyond. We look forward to the opportunity to inspire and be inspired, as we help build more intelligent communities for the future.”
“The ICF is delighted to return to The Netherlands, where so much innovation has fed our movement over the years,” said ICF Co-Founder Lou Zacharilla, who visited Limburg and the Brightlands campuses in March. “The Brightlands concept for the region represents a branding for one of the world’s most diverse and thriving hubs for innovation. People will be amazed by what they see there. It will also be obvious to guests that the quality of life is central to success. I am pleased they will get this chance to show this hidden gem to the world. We look forward to bringing our Top7 Announcement and conference there in 2026.”
ICF Co-Founder Lou Zacharilla, Limburg Governor Emile Roemer, and Regional Minister Stephan Satijn following the announcement of Brightlands-Limburg Region as a Smart21 Community of 2025. March 19 in Maastricht, Netherlands.
More about the ICF Intelligent Community Awards Program
Candidates are evaluated based on six Factors that make up the Community Accelerator Strategy, which provides a framework for understanding how communities can build inclusive prosperity and grow social and cultural strength amid the disruptions of the digital age. This framework also guides ICF’s consulting and coaching practice for communities.
ICF announced the Smart21 Communities of 2025, including the Brightlands-Limburg Region, on March 6, 2025 at the conclusion of the Communities in Transition conference in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The Top7 Intelligent Communities of 2025 will be announced at the From Smart to Intelligent conference in Las Rozas de Madrid, Spain on June 17, 2025. The 2025 Intelligent Community Awards will conclude in December at the ICF Global Summit in Binh Duong Smart City, Vietnam with the announcement of the 2025 Intelligent Community of the Year.
Nominations are open for the 2026 Intelligent Community Awards. For more information and to submit a nomination, visit www.intelligentcommunity.org/compete
About the 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: [email protected]
Victoria Krisman, Communications Director, Intelligent Community Forum
Email: [email protected]
