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.

For the second time since 2017, Moscow made it to the final stage of the Intelligent Community Awards rating. It involves the cities that show best practices in the development of communications, experts training, the use of innovation, digital inclusion, the involvement of residents in city management, and the maintenance of sustainability principles. The prestigious international rating is issued annually by the Intelligent Community Forum.

For the fourth time in a decade, Winnipeg has been recognized as one of the most intelligent communities in the world.

The Intelligent Community Forum’s (ICF) list of the Top 7 Intelligent Communities includes cities in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Russia and Vietnam, Economic Development Winnipeg (EDW) said in a recent press release. The recognition follows Winnipeg’s February 2021 selection as a Smart21 Community of Year, which reduced a competitive field of submissions down to the 21 most compelling cities in the world.

It looks like Canada is home to some seriously smart cookies. The top seven intelligent communities of 2021 have been revealed and three Canadian cities made the cut.

On June 30, a virtual conference of the Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) concluded and the world's most intelligent communities were revealed. The list is based on a community's aspirations and its leadership in economic, social, and cultural development.

Markham is the second safest city in Canada, according to a website that compares cities around the globe.

Numbeo ranked Markham second behind Quebec City on its top 10 list released in June based on a crime index of 22.22 and safety index of 77.78.

The Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) has approved six standards that will hasten the development of eco and socio-friendly ICT cities to offer high quality life for Kenyans.

“As Kenya continues to rapidly urbanize, we increasingly rely on technological solutions to create sustainable living patterns; manage resource consumption in water and energy, enhance smart infrastructure development, ease access to government service as well as tackle environmental challenges such as garbage disposal and recycling. The approved standards will facilitate the transformation of urban infrastructures into smart and sustainable infrastructures as envisioned in the country’s Vision 2030,” said Bernard Njiraini, Managing Director, KEBS.

Durham Region has been recognized as one of the Smart21 Communities of the Year for 2021, which Durham Region’s Sandra Austin, director of strategic initiatives, says is a “positive step forward for Durham.”

The awards, presented by the Intelligent Community Forum (ICF), recognize the world’s leading municipalities that are successfully leveraging data and digital assets to develop inclusive and prosperous communities.

NORTHEASTERN MINNESOTA — The Arrowhead Intelligent Region (AIR) initiative, a partnership between Iron Range Resources & Rehabilitation and Blandin Foundation, is building on the momentum and bringing to regional scale the work and vision of 10 Iron Range Broadband Communities (IRBC) that have implemented nearly 125 projects in the past four years. IRBC broadband champions and regional developers are joining forces to think bigger about the role of broadband access and use in local economies.

Coquitlam is up for a major international award as a “smart city.”

Last week, the Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) named Coquitlam as one of 21 municipalities in the running for the title of 2021 Intelligence Community of the Year.

The field will be narrowed on June 24 when seven finalists are announced; the winner is named in October at an annual summit of digital analysts.