(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)

Early Discounted Registration Available for the 4-6 June 2018 Conference

(19 December 2018 – New York City & London)  –The Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) announced today that registration is now open for the ICF Global Summit 2018 taking place 4-6 June in London.
 
In recent years, the ICF Global Summit has been held in New York City, Toronto, and Columbus, Ohio, USA. This is the first ICF Global Summit to be held in Europe.

(October 23, 2017 - New York City) – The Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) today released The Intelligent Community in Numbers 2017.  The new research report is a statistical portrait of the Intelligent Community, a snapshot based on data submitted to ICF by hundreds of communities of every size, on every continent and in both rural and urban settings.  

The report reveals Intelligent Communities to be strong adopters of broadband, with average availability of 96% of all premises and average adoption by 80% of all premises.  Such strong numbers reflect strong competition: the median speed and price for broadband averaged 68 Mbps at a cost of US$50 per month.  They also put technology to work in schools: 98% use information and communications technology regularly in classrooms and 81% offer distance learning.  More than 90% offer free or low-cost classes in digital skills for their offline population.  

ICF now accepting nominations for the 2018 cycle to determine the 20th Intelligent Community of the Year

(July 6, 2017 - New York City) – The Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) today announced “Humanizing Data” as the theme for the 2018 cycle of its prestigious Intelligent Community Awards Program, which closes nominations on September 13, 2017.

(June 8, 2017 – New York City) – The Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) today named Melbourne, Victoria, Australia the 2017 Intelligent Community of the Year at a dinner ceremony in the prestigious Landmark on the Park venue in Manhattan. The awards ceremony was the conclusion of the Intelligent Community Forum’s annual Summit.

“Melbourne is famously ‘the world’s most livable city,’ but the question was ‘Are they an Intelligent Community?’” said ICF co-founder Lou Zacharilla. “They answered that question this year. They are redefining the concept of technology, work, and the workspace. They have created a city that functions like an artist’s canvas. They have built an entire system where creativity flourishes, education is harnessed to the workforce, and quality of life has become the city’s greatest competitive advantage. It is a dynamic combination and one the Intelligent Community Forum honors.”

Melbourne was selected as the 2017 Intelligent Community of the Year after a year-long evaluation that included a quantitative analysis of extensive data, site inspections by the Intelligent Community Forum, and votes from an international jury made up of experts from around the world. Communities in the Awards program are evaluated based on six Intelligent Community Indicators, along with a seventh criteria, ICF’s annual theme, The Internet of Cities.