(October 31, 2018 – New York City, NY, USA) – The Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) today released Humanizing Data: Using Big Data and Open Data to Engage, Help and Serve the Community. The new research report shares successful examples of data usage for the benefit of all citizens in the 2018 class of Intelligent Communities.

ICF selects a theme each year to supplement the six indicators of the ICF Method on which the selection of the Smart21, Top7 and Intelligent Community of the Year is based. In the 2017-2018 Awards cycle, ICF focused on Humanizing Data because data has become the heartbeat of the new economy and the lifeblood of smart public policy in the 21st Century.

Two words born in the mid-1990s still shape our understanding of data’s central role. Engineers at Silicon Graphics, an early tech innovator, began talking about “Big Data” at about the same time the words “Open Data” first appeared in a report, which advocated for the free exchange of scientific information. Whether big, open or both, data has become the beating heart of business and government. By fueling a better-informed society, it supports human hopes and human potential. In this report, ICF provides many examples of what the top Intelligent Communities of 2018 have done to humanize data for the economic, social and cultural benefit of their communities.

“ICF’s goal is to help communities advance from just being ‘smart’ – using technology to improve their processes – to become ‘intelligent,’” said ICF co-founder Robert Bell. “That means putting people at the center of development at a time when the economy, society and culture are undergoing massive change. The examples in this report show local government at its best: finding innovative ways to make the place called home the best possible place to live, work, build a business and raise a family.”

The report is available free for ICF Members, and for purchase for non-members. 

About Intelligent Community Forum (ICF)
The Intelligent Community Forum (www.intelligentcommunity.org), headquartered in New York, is a global movement of 180 cities, metro regions and counties with a think tank at its heart and a mission to make everyone’s “hometown” at great place. 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.” The Forum’s membership is made up of 170 designated Intelligent Communities worldwide. 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