(May 1, 2019 – New York City, NY, USA) – The Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) has released a comprehensive ranking of Intelligent Communities grouped by their ability to create a knowledge-based workforce, one of the Factors defining Intelligent Communities in the ICF Method.

The list is the latest publication in ICF’s By The Numbers series. It provides a useful guide to the relative strengths of communities in ICF’s network, and an inspiration for greater progress in coming years. Future By the Numbers rankings of Intelligent Communities will be released by ICF in the coming months.

The list ranks Intelligent Communities in our global data set using data on communities submitted from 2014 through March 2019. This data is carefully weighted to balance the self-reported and third-party data of the Smart21 evaluation and the data from later stages of evaluation that is subject to onsite validation.

A Knowledge Workforce is a labor force that creates economic value through its knowledge, skills and ability to use information effectively. Success in the broadband economy requires the ability to create a workforce qualified to perform knowledge work from the factory floor to the research lab, and from the construction site to the call center or corporate headquarters.

Click here to read more about Knowledge Workforce.

 “ICF’s Knowledge Workforce factor – one of six in the ICF Method – looks at how successfully communities are transforming education from a set of narrow, disconnected silos into a true ladder of opportunity for their people,” said ICF co-founder Robert Bell. “Technology plays a part, because good digital skills have become essential to almost every job. But the real ‘secret sauce’ is the ability of primary, secondary, higher and adult education to interconnect, collaborate and engage with employers to ensure that what they teach is relevant to future employment. Education is much more than just career training. To make sure that education benefits your community, however, you need to inspire learners to explore the opportunities right outside their front doors.” 

The Top 30 Intelligent Communities Ranked by Knowledge Workforce:

1. Toronto, Ontario, Canada
2. Montréal, Quebec, Canada
3. Espoo, Finland
4. Moscow, Russia
5. Nelson, British Columbia, Canada
6. Mitchell, South Dakota, USA
7. Stratford, Ontario, Canada
8. Brabant Kempen Region, The Netherlands
9. Rochester, New York, USA
10. Ipswich, Queensland, Australia
11. Armidale, New South Wales, Australia
12. Astana, Kazakhstan
13. Olds, Alberta, Canada
14. San Diego, California, USA
15. Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia
16. Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
17. Chiayi City, Taiwan
18. Tainan City, Taiwan
19. Hudson, Ohio, USA
20. Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
21. Western Valley, Nova Scotia, Canada
22. Taoyuan, Taiwan
23. Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada
24. Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
25. Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
26. Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
27. Regional Municipality of York, Ontario, Canada
28. Hsinchu City, Taiwan
29. Taitung County, Taiwan
30. Grey County, Ontario, Canada

ICF will be releasing its rankings on Broadband in May and Sustainability in July. Data collection is concluded for Broadband, but is ongoing for Sustainability. Communities wishing to submit data for Sustainability can contact ICF Director of Operations Matthew Owen at [email protected].

About Intelligent Community Forum (ICF)
The Intelligent Community Forum is a global network with a think tank at its center. It connects hundreds of cities and regions on five continents for collaboration on economic development and for exchange of expertise and information that drives progress. Through this network, ICF researches how Intelligent Communities use information and communications technology to build inclusive prosperity, solve social problems and enrich their quality of life in our connected century. ICF is headquartered in New York City, is a worldwide organization that is renowned for its efforts recognizing Intelligent Community excellence through its annual awards programs, workshops, conferences and other support. Today there are nearly 170 Intelligent Communities around the world, and growing annually, with Intelligent Community representatives on every continent. The Intelligent Community Forum Foundation (ICFF) is the association of these Intelligent Communities, aimed at working together to share information and develop more Intelligent Communities throughout the world. As ICF’s principles are sought after around the world, there is an opportunity for each country to focus its ICF-related efforts within their region. For more information, visit http://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]