Part of the 2025 ICF Delegation meeting with New Taipei City’s Mayor Hou
 

For the past three years, the Intelligent Community Forum has taken a delegation to attend the annual Smart City Summit & Expo and Net Zero City Expo (SCSE) in Taipei. From a small, largely Canadian delegation in the first year, the past two years have attracted significant numbers of international attendees to be part of ICF’s Delegation to the SCSE and associated site visits. This year, thirty-one delegates from Canada, USA, Brazil, Spain, and the Netherlands joined ICF Canada and ICF Taiwan’s organizers to attend the SCSE and undertake visits to meet the mayors of Taoyuan, New Taipei City, and Yunlin County. In each of these gatherings, in addition to the formalities, the mayors explained why their communities have become among the best smart cities and Intelligent Communities in Taiwan. They noted that they are leading in applying digital communications technologies in health, emergency response, education, traffic control, urban planning, and overall quality of life for their citizens. As the delegation learned over the course of their visit to Taiwan – these communities excel in not only digital connectivity and AIoT applications, they also train knowledge workers and the talent to innovate and become global entrepreneurs. And with innovation, they share their prosperity with all of their citizens who have developed a culture of engagement and respect for sustainability, all key factors of smart cities to evolve into true Intelligent Communities.
 

NEW TAIPEI CITY, TAIWAN - Media OutReach Newswire - 25 June 2024 - On June 19, 2024, at the Hilton Taipei Sinban Hotel, the New Taipei City Government, in collaboration with the international organization ICF (Intelligent Community Forum), co-hosted the "2024 NTPC Smart City International Forum and ICF Top7 Global Cities Announcement." The forum's theme was "AI: The Innovation Accelerator," which explored how artificial intelligence has contributed to economic growth, sustainability, and human welfare. The event attracted overseas dignitaries, representatives from consulates, and industry leaders from nearly 30 countries, fostering lively participation.

On June 19-20, New Taipei City (NTPC) hosted the 2024 Top7 Conference, “AI: The Innovation Accelerator,” which brought together city leaders and technology experts from Asia, Europe, Latin America and North America.

(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.

Communities from eight nations over five continents named as semi-finalists in ICF’s annual Intelligent Community of the Year Awards Program

(February 23, 2023 – New York, NY, USA) – At the conclusion of a virtual conference hosted by the Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) and co-hosted by Economic Development Australia (EDA) and the Economic Developers Association of Canada (EDAC), ICF today named the world’s Smart21 Communities of 2023.

The selection of the annual Smart21 Communities of the Year marks the semi-finalist phase in ICF’s annual Awards Program. The program will conclude when ICF names the 2023 Intelligent Community of the Year in October at the ICF Summit. One of these 21 communities named today will succeed New Taipei City, the 2022 Intelligent Community of the Year.

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.

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.

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)