The Intelligent Community Forum Names its First Brazilian City for Development Excellence

(November 4, 2024 – New York City, NY, USA & Barcelona, Spain) – For the first time in its 25-year history, the Intelligent Community Forum honored a Brazilian city with its top award today when it named Curitiba as the 2024 Intelligent Community of the Year. Curitiba, located in the state of Paraná, had been previously named a Smart21 Community eight times and to the prestigious list of Top7 four times since 2021. The announcement was made during the annual Intelligent Community Awards Dinner at Can Travi Nou in Barcelona, the culminating event of this year’s ICF Global Summit conference. (www.icfsummit.com) The Intelligent Community Awards Dinner was sponsored by Becamex IDC.

“For the second consecutive year, an Intelligent Community of the Year is the first in its nation’s history to be named and one that has also worked for years on a breakthrough plan for success,” said ICF co-founder Louis Zacharilla. “Curitiba has earned this honor after several times in the group of seven finalists. Like Binh Duong last year, its effort brings joy to those who follow the life and growth of cities.”

Curitiba succeeds Binh Duong, Vietnam as ICF’s Intelligent Community of the Year. Representatives from Binh Duong were on the stage as Curitiba accepted. Binh Duong will also be hosting the 2025 ICF Global Summit. Curitiba 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 co-founder 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 2024 ICF Global Summit explored how innovative cities and regions are turning technology change to the advantage of their people and employers – and finding in the threats of today the seeds of tomorrow’s opportunities. Its theme was “From Challenge to Opportunity: How Intelligent Communities turn the challenges of today into tomorrow’s economic, social and cultural opportunity.” The event was co-produced by BABLE Smart Cities and the Eindhoven International Project Office.

The Summit on November 4 featured a day of programming, workshops and panel discussions with leaders from around the world, including representatives from each of the Top7 Intelligent Communities of 2024 – the seven finalists for the Intelligent Community of the Year Award. The other six finalists competing with Curitiba for Intelligent Community of 2024 were Assaí, Paraná, Brazil; Coral Gables, Florida, USA; Durham Region, Ontario, Canada; Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada; Hilliard, Ohio, USA; and Yunlin County, Taiwan.

Speakers at the Dinner included Rob McCann of the Hamilton Technology Centre and Alba Monteiro of Las Rozas de Madrid. Rob is leading a group of Ontario communities and companies that will host the ICF 2025 Smart 21 Conference and Announcement in early March 2025. Las Rozas de Madrid will be the site of the June 2025 Top7 Conference and Announcement. The event also featured the announcement of the newest Senior Fellow of ICF, Agustin Argelich of Argelich Networks. More information regarding these event and the appointment of Mr. Argelich will follow in the coming weeks.

More about Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil: 2024 Intelligent Community of the Year
Urban planning works. That is the lesson of Curitiba, which has engaged in proactive planning for its future for nearly 40 years. While other Brazilian cities welcomed heavy industry, Curitiba accepted only non-polluters and developed an industrial district with so much green space that it was derided as a “golf course” until it filled up with more than 3,500 companies. Beginning in the 1970s, the master plan laid out streets, public transportation, shopping, industrial and residential areas. Today, clean water reaches 100% and sanitation 93% of the population, and the city offers a range of services still rare in emerging market nations: municipal healthcare, education and daycare networks, neighborhood libraries, and sports and culture facilities near mass transport terminals.

Curitiba has become one of the first Brazilian cities to offer TIM 5G based on approving decree 989, which simplified the process to acquire an installation and operation license for radio base stations and antennas in the city. The decree also made small antennas and building-top equipment exempt from licensing requirements in their entirety. The city implemented EmpregoTech, a program to train young people ages 16 to 22 for a future in high-tech jobs. Curitiba developed an innovation ecosystem in Pinhão Valley. When COVID-19 reached Brazil in 2020, the Curitiba Agency for Development and Innovation worked with local startups and other companies to help entrepreneurs, local street market workers and artisans to create a virtual shop where they could exhibit and sell their goods, as they had previously had no online stores. The Agency also created a variety of online training courses for these businesses to help with their transition to online activities. The city also focused on multiple studies and projects to produce and implement clean energy in public buildings and public transportation. The city has installed a small hydroelectric plant in Barigui park to supply energy to the park, a project that will be replicated in other parks across the city. Read more about Curitiba.

About Intelligent Community Forum (ICF)
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 and growing economies, inclusive societies and affirming cultures open to the world. We do it for communities large and small, in urban clusters and 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 path for the next generation.

The Forum sponsors 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 information, go to www.intelligentcommunity.org/icf_membership. For more details on the Intelligent Community Forum’s recent publications and programs, www.intelligentcommunity.org.

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

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