Small, Medium & Large Communities from Four Nations Show Transformative Change

(New York, USA and Quebec City, Canada – 11 February, 2019) –  In an announcement this evening at an event at Laval University in Quebec City, the Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) named the Top7 Intelligent Communities of 2019. The 17th annual Top7 list includes cities and counties from the United States, Canada, Australia and Taiwan. 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 June in New York City on June 13th. (www.icfsummit.com)

In alphabetical order, the Top7 Intelligent Communities of 2019 are:

• Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada
• Chicago, Illinois, USA
• Hudson, Ohio, USA
• Sarnia-Lambton County, Ontario, Canada
• Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia
• Taoyuan, Taiwan
• Westerville, Ohio, USA

(October 31, 2018 – New York City, NY, USA) – The Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) today released Humanizing Data: Using Big Data and Open Data to Engage, Help and Serve the Community. The new research report shares successful examples of data usage for the benefit of all citizens in the 2018 class of Intelligent Communities.

ICF selects a theme each year to supplement the six indicators of the ICF Method on which the selection of the Smart21, Top7 and Intelligent Community of the Year is based. In the 2017-2018 Awards cycle, ICF focused on Humanizing Data because data has become the heartbeat of the new economy and the lifeblood of smart public policy in the 21st Century.

(25 October 2018 – New York City and Hamilton, Ontario, Canada) – In a live ceremony in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada and global online announcement from its New York headquarters, the Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) today named the world’s Smart21 Communities of 2019.

Selection of this group of cities and counties begins the eight-month process through which ICF will, in June, name one of them as its 2019 Intelligent Community of the Year. More than semi-finalists for an international award, the Smart21 represent the best models of economic, social and cultural development in the digital age, in the judgment of ICF and its team of independent analysts. Moving beyond the technology focus of the smart city movement, they are on the road from Smart to Intelligent.

(October 11, 2018 - New York City) – The Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) today released Creating Champions of Change: Advocacy for Intelligent Communities. The new research report shares dynamics, strategies and successful examples of Advocacy in action in four Intelligent Communities.

An Intelligent Community integrates smart people, facilities, equipment, data and policies into a united and common direction. Advocacy is that unifying element – gathering and aligning local initiatives in Broadband, Knowledge Workforce, Digital Equity, Innovation and Sustainability into a broadly shared and understood narrative. Momentum with intention. Successful Advocacy coalesces a community’s character and conveys a public identity to the world. It energizes economic development, investment attraction and business formation because the community has built a unique vision of its culture and its future.

Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Riverside, CA, USA; Waterloo, Ontario, Canada; Grey County, Ontario, Canada; Whanganui, New Zealand ranked top in their respective population brackets

(September 4, 2018 – New York City, NY, USA) – The Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) today released a comprehensive ranking of intelligent communities grouped by population, the first list of its kind since the New York-based think-tank began its research on intelligent community development over twenty years ago.

The Top 10 Intelligent Communities By Population list is the latest publication in ICF’s By the Numbers series. It provides a useful guide to the relative strengths of communities in ICF’s network and an inspiration for greater progress in coming years. Future By the Numbers rankings of intelligent communities will be released by ICF in the coming months.

Awards to culminate with the naming of the 2019 Intelligent Community of the Year in June at the ICF Summit in New York City

(July 3, 2018 – New York City) - The Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) today announced “Infinite Learning” as the theme for the 2019 cycle of its prestigious Intelligent Community of the Year Awards Program.  The Forum’s Intelligent Community of the Year will be named in June in New York.  Nominations close on September 21, 2018.  Along the way toward naming the Intelligent Community of the Year, the Smart21 and Top7 will be announced in October and February.

(June 6, 2018 – London) – For the first time since 2009, the Intelligent Community Forum honored a Nordic city with its top award when it named Espoo, Finland as its 2018 Intelligent Community of the Year. Espoo was honored in its first year as a competitor in the program.

“It is very unusual for a community to be named Intelligent Community of the Year the first time they enter our program,” said ICF co-founder Lou Zacharilla. “ICF is about process improvement over time. But Espoo’s holistic philosophy of humanizing every aspect of its technology and teaching innovation as a way of life was extremely impressive. Espoo’s citizen engagement rates are extremely high, which democracies need, and its economic output speaks for itself. The city is a hidden gem in Finland. Now they have been ‘found out!’”

(Hsinchu City, Taiwan and New York, NY, USA – March 20, 2018) – The Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) and Chung Hua University (CHU) have signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOU) to create ICF’s first Institute for the study of Smart Cities and Intelligent Communities in the Asian region, to be located at Chung Hua University. The signing ceremony took place in Taiwan at CHU in Hsinchu City between John G. Jung, ICF’s Co-Founder and Victor W. Liu, President of CHU. The ceremony was witnessed by CHU professors, students and staff as well as community leaders from several Taiwanese cities, including from Hsinchu City, Hsinchu County and Taoyuan County and several private sector leaders. The signing was followed by a keynote address by ICF’s Chairman entitled “The Intelligent Community Movement”. Mr. LC Chen was awarded with the appointment as Honored Dean of the ICF Institute in Taiwan. Following the ceremonial signing, ICF’s Co-Founder officially opened a new Anime Museum and participated in a banquet hosted by the Hsinchu County Magistrate Chiu.

(February 20, 2018 - New York City) – The Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) today released No Neighbor Left Behind. The new research report shares dynamics, definitions and successful examples of Digital Equality in action in six Intelligent Communities.

The success of Intelligent Communities in building a digitally-powered innovation economy contains a sharp risk: that more of our citizens will be left behind, shut out of opportunity and civic life by the onrush of technology. To lessen that risk, Intelligent Communities pursue digital equality: the chance for every citizen to participate in the digital economy and society, regardless of income, age, education or disability. The more equal we can make our citizens in the digital world, the more capable and productive they will be. And that reduces the costs and problems caused by those who are left on the margins of society.

(New York– 8 February 2018) – The Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) named the world’s Top7 Intelligent Communities of 2018 today.  This is the think tank’s 16^th annual Top7 list of regions, cities or towns that have gone, in ICF’s words, “from Smart City to Intelligent Community.”  This year’s list includes communities from four nations, with Taiwan contributing three, Canada two communities and Australia and Finland one each. The seven will travel to London in June where one will go on to be named the Intelligent Community of the Year, succeeding Melbourne, Australia, the reigning community.  The announcement will take place as the culminating event at the ICF Global Summit from 4-6 June at Siemens’ Crystal Facility and other sites around London. (www.icfsummit.com)