(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.

Can global “No-Name” cities act as some of the world's best models as smart and Intelligent communities? You bet! Look at the current list of the SMART21 cities and the TOP7 Intelligent Communities this year to get a clue.

Among the world’s smartest examples include cities you may never have heard of before such as Whanganui, New Zealand; Townsville, Queensland, Australia; Elefsina, Attica, Greece; and Markham, Ontario, Canada. Each one of these cities offers initiatives, programs and governance examples that exhibit best practices that communities around the world can learn from or be inspired to emulate. From the 2022 ICF Smart21 list, you probably have only heard of four cities before: Adelaide, Belfast, Philadelphia, and Rochester. Some of you may have heard of two or three more on that list. But I bet most of you have never heard of the rest. But you should. They may have solutions, ideas and pathways leading to your next innovation staring you in the face.

Ignite, along with the City of Fredericton are pleased to announce that Fredericton has been named one of the world’s Top7 Intelligent Communities by the Intelligent Communities Forum (ICF). New Brunswick’s Capital City joins the Regional Municipality of Durham in Ontario as the only other municipality in Canada to make the list, which includes cities and counties from Australia, Brazil, Taiwan and Vietnam, as announced on June 21, 2002. In alphabetical order, the Top7 Intelligent Communities of 2021 are:

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

(New York, USA & Binh Duong, Vietnam – June 21, 2022) – In an announcement today at the conclusion of a hybrid live and online conference, the Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) named the Top7 Intelligent Communities of 2022. The 20th annual Top7 list includes cities and counties from Australia, Brazil, Canada, Taiwan 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)

FREDERICTON–HOTSPOT, A FREDERICTON-BASED PARKING APP, HAS BEEN ACQUIRED BY IBI GROUP, A TORONTO-FOUNDED TECHNOLOGY FIRM.

HotSpot was founded in Fredericton in 2013 and is now present in over 80 municipalities, cities, and universities across Canada. The app also has more than 460,000 users and some presence in every province.

IBI, which stands for Infrastructure, Buildings, and Intelligence, has about 60 offices worldwide.

FREDERICTON—Introhive, a Fredericton-based software startup, announced Wednesday that it has secured a $100-million (U.S.) investment, part of a Series C round led by PSG, a Boston-based company that backs middle-market software companies.

“It’s been a big year for Introhive,” said CEO Jody Glidden in an interview with Huddle. “We were on Deloitte’s 500 fastest-growing companies list for the second year in a row, we were recognized in Canada on the best places to work list.”

FREDERICTON – Ray Harris, the owner of Data Wazo, is putting Fredericton businesses on the map with his Shop Local Fredericton web application. The project was created to act as a resource for people looking for local businesses to shop from during the holiday season and beyond.

“People think there’s a certain item they just can’t get in the city and because of that they immediately go online. If we can make that information a little more readily available, it might encourage people to spend their money in the city,” said Harris.

FREDERICTON – Starting August 31, entrepreneurs will have a co-working space in the downtown core that will provide support to early-stage entrepreneurs and startups.
“The Nest” is a collaboration between Planet Hatch and The Cap and will provide entrepreneurs with a working space, business counselling, funding, programs, and events.

“Even in a small town like Fredericton, there can be a barrier of proximity or geographical location,” said Adam Peabody, director of Planet Hatch.

“And so, what we had been told by some [entrepreneurs is] … that they had hoped that we would be able to provide a home for them as well and most of them are in the downtown business district.”

When Inem Nsimah uprooted her life in Kenya for a career change in New Brunswick, she was warmly welcomed by her new co-workers. But when the work day ended she felt alone.

"I suddenly became afraid, because I was happy in the day working, but at evenings I was very lonely," she said. "And I started doubting that decision."

She would like Frederictonians to learn the challenges of joining the community as a newcomer.

FREDERICTON — A Fredericton startup has developed software that helps communities and organizations explore complex issues in an engaging and interactive way, helping them figure out things like where to build schools, measure the impacts of cultural industries on a region’s economy, and maybe even contain the community spread of a virus such as Covid-19.

Black Arcs was founded by tech entrepreneur and engineer Jake Arsenault about five years ago. Having previously founded Inversa Systems, a pioneer of gamma-ray imaging for infrastructure, he and his business partners were looking to build something new that could help benefit the larger community.