The City of Defiance was named one of the Intelligent Community Forum’s (ICF) 2026 Smart21 Communities of the Year.

This marks the third time in four years that Defiance has earned this distinction, following previous recognition in 2023 and 2024, a level of consistency achieved by very few communities of Defiance’s size anywhere in the world, according to an ICF media release.

The Smart21 list recognizes just 21 communities worldwide each year, selected through a data-driven, merit-based evaluation against hundreds of communities in ICF’s global database with no fee or ability to pay for inclusion, the release explained.

Learn more here.