New smart-city digital technologies involving the Internet of Things are being adopted by the nation’s largest cities and could help spur economic development through industrial transformation. Some of the leading examples so far are the eTag electronic toll collection system, the EasyCard payment platform, and the Wi-Fi system on the Taoyuan Metro. Under planning is a smart-machinery center in Taichung.

The Taiwan economy is performing respectably this year on the back of ascendant global demand for electronics products. In the January-March period, exports jumped 15.1% year-on-year, the fastest growth in six years. Economists say gross domestic product should expand 2% this year, the best performance since 2014.

I have to explain the PLUS! in the title right away. As you can tell from the title this blog is intended to talk about the TOP7 announcement in Taipei on February 9, but so much more went on that week in Taiwan that needs to be discussed here. For instance, ICF Canada took a business delegation to Taiwan; ICF Taiwan was announced on February 9 at a special ICF-related conference focusing on the Internet of Cities; and ICF-related delegations from around the world attended the conference and TOP7 announcement from the Netherlands, Vietnam, Estonia and Hong Kong. And Lou Zacharilla and I came from ICF, the global headquarters of the ICF Think Tank in New York to officially announce the 2017 TOP7 at an event associated with Taiwan’s Lantern Festival. It was an incredible week. Where to start?

【記者洪小蕾台北報導】為架構亞洲智慧城市建設交流平台，推動台灣智慧城市應用成果為國際之櫥窗，「經濟部加速行動寬頻服務及產業發展推動小組」 與ICF(Intelligent Community Forum)於2017年2月9日(四)假香格里拉台北遠東國際大飯店三樓宴會廳舉行「2017國際智慧城市論壇暨ICF Taiwan成立大會」。

本次論壇邀請來自加拿大、荷蘭、愛沙尼亞及越南等市代表來台共襄盛舉，並與國內地方首長及產業代表，共同探討智慧城市下一波機會及如何提升智慧城市素質與永續發展。

由網路科技所引發的物聯網時代來臨，為智慧交通、智慧健康以及智慧生活等產業帶來創新契機，各縣市政府也逐步打造極具地方特色的創意城市，發展成宜居樂活智慧城市。由世界通訊端協會(World Teleport Association；WTA)所成立的智慧城市論壇(Intelligent Community Forum；ICF)，每年舉辦全球智慧城市評比，從全球數百多個城市選出Smart 21，再從中選出Top 7，最後選拔出年度首獎。

2017年台灣共有5個城市入圍：基隆市、桃園市、嘉義市、臺南市及宜蘭縣，入選城市數量僅次於加拿大。經濟部於2月9日舉辦「2017國際智慧城市論壇暨ICF Taiwan成立大會」，邀請亞洲矽谷物聯網產業大聯盟榮譽會長施振榮擔任主席、亞洲矽谷投資長翁嘉盛擔任副主席。智慧城市論壇主席兼共同創辦人John G. Jung、智慧城市論壇共同創辦人Louis Zacharilla以及加拿大、荷蘭、愛沙尼亞城市代表特別來臺見證亞洲第一個成立的ICF區域性組織。