(New York City – November 18, 2024) – The Intelligent Community Forum announced today the Full Certification of Durham Region, Ontario, Canada as an Intelligent Community with policies, programs and projects that create inclusive prosperity, a vibrant society and rich local culture. These combine to make this region of eight municipalities made up of cities, towns and townships, a highly desirable location for innovative businesses, institutions and people.

Meeting ICF’s Certification standard provides objective validation that a community has high-quality connectivity, effective workforce development, a business innovation ecosystem and meaningful community engagement, digital inclusion and sustainability programs in place. These qualities combine to support the growth of innovative businesses, meet their talent needs and provide inclusive prosperity and a high quality of life.

Durham Region is the second community in Canada to be Fully Certified as an Intelligent Community. It is also a three-time Top7 Intelligent Community and was a finalist in the 2024 Intelligent Community Awards.

“I first had the privilege of visiting Durham Region in 2021,” said ICF co-founder Robert Bell. “Since then, Durham has been both intentional and dedicated in pursuing its Intelligent Community journey, signaled by three consecutive Top7 awards from ICF. This Full Certification recognizes the major transformation that has occurred there over the past three years, creating a growing network of collaboration that makes the most of every innovative project and economic development.”

About Durham Region, Ontario

The Regional Municipality of Durham, known informally as Durham Region, was founded in 1974 to address the needs of this rapidly expanding area. With a current population of more than 750,000 that is projected to reach 1.3 million by 2051, the demand for efficient, coordinated regional services continues to grow.

Today, Durham Region provides shared services and program coordination to eight local area municipalities consisting of cities, towns and townships in Ontario, Canada. These services support diverse communities and a range of economic sectors from agriculture to clean energy. With 80% of Durham Region zoned as protected green space or agricultural lands, agriculture is a major sector in the region. Durham Region is the Clean Energy Capital of Canada, providing about 30% of the province's energy needs. Energy engineering is a major employer as a result, with innovative projects like the first grid-tied small modular reactor being developed in the region. Durham is also home to automotive manufacturing, a thriving film production industry, and globally recognized research facilities such as the multi-climate ACE Climatic Aerodynamic Wind Tunnel.

Building on this momentum, Durham Region has completed the first phase of a 700-kilometer fiber network targeting underserved rural areas. The Region has also implemented a regional program to help hundreds of low-income families access Canada’s financial assistance programs for post-secondary education. Senior citizen centers provide low-cost tech training to thousands of older residents. In March, Durham Region made headlines with the successful delivery of the third generation of the CityROVER A.I. system, which was developed by Visual Defence in collaboration with Durham Region and the Ontario government. Durham Region’s use of CityROVER A.I. for pothole detection is just one of the many examples of its Intelligent Community practices. More from the ICF profile of Durham Region.

About Intelligent Community Certification
Intelligent Community Certification is an economic development credential based on ICF’s Community Accelerator Strategy and analytic methods developed over two decades of research and work with more than 200 communities around the world. It is provided in two stages. In the first stage, the municipality, county or region completes an online questionnaire with guidance from ICF. It reports on connectivity, workforce development, public and private-sector innovation, digital inclusion, public engagement and sustainability and resilience. ICF applies its proven analytic methods to the data provided in the completed questionnaire and produces both detailed and summary scoring. Communities whose summary score meets or exceeds the standard receive Provisional Certification based on this self-reported data, and the certification must be renewed yearly to remain in effect.

Full Certification requires an onsite audit by ICF. In a site visit, an ICF auditor validates the information provided by the community for its Provisional Certification and learns more about the programs and practices that make it an Intelligent Community. Following the audit, the auditor prepares a report detailing results and updates the scoring of the community based on the audit. Communities whose summary score meets or exceeds the standard receive Full Certification, which is good for three years.

Intelligent Community Certification is based on a set of standards described in detail on the ICF website.

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
Tel. +1 646-291-6166 (x105)
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @Newcommunities

Jessica Torraville, Communications Officer, The Regional Municipality of Durham
Email: [email protected]