I told them.

I told them when I was in Vietnam during my first visit there in December 2016. I told them at a talk I gave to the leadership of its new “rocket to the future,” the smart city of Binh Duong. I told the big shots from its government what they were building.

I told them that in my country (the USA), the hope of the tortured 20th Century was given a boost by the landing on the Moon. It gave people everywhere a new sense of hope, a feeling of possibilities and wonders to come. The technology that flowed from the innovations that had to take place to get men on the Moon, over time, became part of the global economy and embedded in the world we live in today, especially the world of communications. It fed engineering schools new, inspired students who wanted to go to work for NASA or the Jet Propulsion Laboratory or General Foods, makers of Tang, the first orange drink mix the astronauts had with them in space! It enabled young, aspiring poets like me to wonder about the workings and nature of the universe, which had opened up like the clouds of a Renaissance painting.

On October 27, a delegation from New Taipei City, Taiwan (which for the uninitiated is NOT Taipei) literally and metaphorically crossed the Bridge.

That afternoon, New Taipei City, along with members of the Top7 communities of the Year, walked toward the Scioto River in Central Ohio, through the streets of Dublin. Dublin is a testament to the concept of “New Urbanism” and a case study in political will and vision. We slowly came to the foot of the US$23 million Dublink Bridge, the largest “S” shaped walking bridge in North America. It is breathtakingly beautiful and the only bridge in North America – or the world – named after a fiber optic telecommunications network! A municipally built one at that.

New Taipei City is the Fourth Taiwanese City to Be Named in the History of the Awards Program

(October 27, 2022 – New York City, NY & Dublin, OH) – For the second time in four years, the Intelligent Community Forum honored a Taiwanese city with its top award today when it named New Taipei City as its 2022 Intelligent Community of the Year. New Taipei City had been previously named a five-time Smart21 Community and four-time Top7 Community since first entering the ICF Awards program in 2012. The announcement was made during the annual Intelligent Community Awards Dinner at the State of Ohio (USA) Statehouse in Columbus, the culminating event of this year’s ICF Global Summit conference hosted by the City of Dublin, Ohio and the Global Institute for the Study of the Intelligent Community, based in Dublin.

Winnipeg is the capital of the Canadian province of Manitoba, located in the center of the North American continent. Winnipeg’s economy is dominated by agriculture, energy, manufacturing and a growing tech scene. 

Manitoba's capital is snatching up another prestigious title, this time for its digital brains.

The Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) has named Winnipeg this year's World’s Top Intelligent Community. This award is bestowed onto a community for its competitiveness in the digital economy.

WINNIPEG - Winnipeg has been named the most intelligent community for 2021 by an independent think tank, beating out contenders in Australia, Brazil, Russia, and Vietnam.

The title was bestowed on Winnipeg by the Intelligent Community Forum, marking the first time Winnipeg has been selected by the ICF. Winnipeg has placed in the top seven three other times in 2014, 2015, and 2016.

(October 28, 2021 – New York City) – For the first time since 2016, the Intelligent Community Forum honored a Canadian city with its top award today when it named Winnipeg, Manitoba as its 2021 Intelligent Community of the Year. Winnipeg is a veteran of the Intelligent Community Awards program, having been previously named a nine-time Smart21 Community and four-time Top7 Community since first entering the program in 2011.

“Over the past nine years, we have watched Winnipeg evolve in its strategy and the maturity and interconnectedness of its programs,” said co-founder Louis Zacharilla, who led the award ceremony. “Like so many of the Intelligent Communities of the Year, it is a mid-size city proud of the diversity of its people, its economy and its cultures. There is much to learn from their example.”

The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications and the Land Board have unveiled an application that has overlaid three-dimensional building renders over the map of Estonia, allowing people to visualize most buildings in Estonia.

Artu Ellmann, Deputy Director General of the Land Board, said the Geo3D strategic program will be supplemented with further 3D data and additional services. The recently published three-dimensional map is the first of the services.

A city focused on environmental sustainability, one of six Factors in the ICF Method defining success for cities and regions in the 21st Century

(New York, USA and Tallinn, Estonia – April 6, 2021) – When Tallinn, Estonia was named the Intelligent Community of the Year in October 2020 by the Intelligent Community Forum (ICF), one factor in its selection was a commitment to environmental sustainability. In May of that year, Tallinn had been shortlisted by the European Commission as one of four finalists for the 2022 European Green Capital Award. The city followed up these achievements by launching a new brand as a Green Global City.

(June 13, 2019 – New York City) – For the first time in six years, the Intelligent Community Forum honored a Taiwanese city with its top award tonight when it named Taoyuan, Taiwan as its 2019 Intelligent Community of the Year. Taoyuan is a well-known veteran of the Intelligent Community Awards program, having been previously named a ten-time Smart21 Community and a four-time Top7 Community since first entering the program in 2009.

“Taoyuan has been one of the highest overall achievers among smart and Intelligent Communities for the past decade,” said ICF co-founder Louis Zacharilla. “They have stayed with it and while most people may not recognize the name Taoyuan City, it is at the same level as Stockholm, Toronto and Melbourne. It is a place where quality of life, job creation and the digital environment’s ability to unleash innovation meet in perfect unison.”

Taoyuan was selected as the 2019 Intelligent Community of the Year after a year-long evaluation that included a quantitative analysis of extensive data, site inspections by an Intelligent Community Forum co-founder and votes from an international jury made up of experts from around the world. Communities in the Awards program are evaluated based on the six Intelligent Community Indictors that make up the ICF Method and in the context of ICF’s annual theme, When Tech Giants Come to Town.