Communities from Australia, Brazil, Canada, the United States and Vietnam become finalists for Intelligent Community of the Year to be named at the ICF Summit in October

(New York, NY, USA & Durham Region, ON, Canada – June 20, 2023) – In an announcement today at the conclusion of a two-day hybrid live and online conference, the Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) named the Top7 Intelligent Communities of 2023. The 21st annual Top7 list includes cities and counties from Australia, Brazil, Canada, the United States and Vietnam. One of these seven finalists in the think tank’s annual awards program will be named the Intelligent Community of the Year at the ICF Summit in October. (www.icfsummit.com)

In alphabetical order, the Top7 Intelligent Communities of 2023 are:

• Binh Duong Smart City, Vietnam
• Coral Gables, Florida, USA
• Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil
• Durham Region, Ontario, Canada
• Greater Geelong, Victoria, Australia
• Hilliard, Ohio, USA
• Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia

(June 13, 2023 - New York City) – The Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) today published its latest report, Building Success for Your Municipal Network, which outlines a set of principles that lead to successful construction, service adoption and financial viability for municipal broadband networks. Illustrated with case studies that show the principles in action, the report is based on the experience of ICF and the people of Lit Communities, a company that develops networks for municipalities and counties through creative public-private partnerships that share risk and ensure that the needs of the community’s people come first.

(June 1, 2023 – New York City, NY, USA) – The Intelligent Community Forum announced today the certification of two cities half a world apart as Intelligent Communities: Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia and Winnipeg, the capital of the province of Manitoba in Canada.

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.

A new report examines the role of audio enhancement in education, healthcare, and other applications.

As multimedia experiences become more common in our digitally-connected society, the importance of immersive, clear, noise-free audio will become increasingly important for everyone. Digitunity, a non-profit organization committed to ending the digital divide, with the support of award-winning audio solution provider AVID Products, has released a commissioned report titled “The Crucial Role of Audio Enhancement in Learning & Health” on the role of audio enhancement in education, healthcare, and other applications.

(May 11, 2023 – New York City, NY, USA) – The Intelligent Community Forum announced today the certification of Binh Duong Smart City in Vietnam as an Intelligent Community, identifying it as investment-ready and prepared to prosper economically, socially and culturally amid the challenges and opportunities of the Digital Decades.

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.

(27 April 2023 – New York City, NY, USA & Durham Region, ON, Canada) – On 19-20 June 2023, the Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) and the Regional Municipality of Durham, Ontario will jointly present the 2023 Top7 Intelligent Communities Conference: Better Together – Building a Strong Region from Diverse Communities. The two-day hybrid conference features live and online events in the Durham Region, culminating in the announcement of the Top7 Communities of 2023.

The Top7 Communities are chosen from among the Smart21 Communities of 2023 to be finalists in the yearly Intelligent Community Awards. In October 2023, one of these seven communities will be named the Intelligent Community of the Year at ICF’s Global Summit. The Durham Region was one of the Top7 Communities of 2022 and is a Smart21 Community again this year.

(March 28, 2023 – New York City, NY, USA) – Two award-winning cities in North America and Asia have received the first Intelligent Community Certifications issued by the Intelligent Community Forum (ICF), identifying them as investment-ready and prepared to prosper economically, socially and culturally amid the challenges and opportunities of the digital age. 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 a high quality of life.

Connectivity by itself adds little value – it is what people do with it that counts. Learn from communities that have leveraged their broadband assets for business retention and attraction, market differentiation, talent attraction for remote work and regional partnerships.

Grimson spoke before a large crowd at the Southeast College's Estevan campus.