(February 16, 2023 – New York City) – The Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) today launched the world’s first Certification program for cities and regions that validates the community’s digital, workforce development and innovation assets, which form the foundation for investment attraction, job growth and entrepreneurship. It also validates the ability to attract, retain and serve their people through commitments to digital inclusion, community engagement and sustainability. Taken together, these are the critical factors that give communities a competitive advantage as great places to live, work, build a business, start a family and give a path to the next generation.

(February 14, 2023 – New York City, NY, USA & Stoney Creek, ON, Canada) – The Economic Developers Association of Canada (EDAC) and the Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) announced today a partnership aiming to bring a new level of benefits to economic developers in Canada and in Intelligent Communities around the world. Through the partnership, EDAC and ICF will contribute content, expertise, and communication resources to each other’s professional development, training, certification, awards, and event programs throughout the year, and extend select benefits to each other’s members. The first collaboration of the partners will be joint production of “Turning Connectivity into Growth” (www.icfsmart21.com), a two-day online conference on February 22-23 that culminates with the announcement of ICF’s Smart21 Communities of 2023.

Annual Awards Program to culminate in October 2023 with the announcement of the 2023 Intelligent Community of the Year

(November 22, 2022 – New York City) – After announcing New Taipei City, Taiwan as the 2022 Intelligent Community of the Year, the Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) has opened nominations for the next cycle of its prestigious international Awards Program for cities and regions. The 2023 Awards Program culminates with the announcement of the 25th Intelligent Community of the Year at the ICF Global Summit in October 2023 in New York City.

More information and the questionnaire can be found at https://www.intelligentcommunity.org/questionnaire. There is no cost to submit a questionnaire. The deadline to nominate a community for consideration in the 2023 Awards cycle is January 31, 2023.

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.

Official Declaration to take place during the ICF Summit Awards Dinner on October 27 at the Ohio Statehouse

(OCTOBER 21, 2022 – NEW YORK CITY) – The Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) has declared the State of Ohio to be the world’s first Intelligent State at the conclusion of months of research conducted by ICF and its Global Institute in Dublin, Ohio. The research project aims to develop a set of objective standards and an evaluation process enabling other states and provinces to qualify as Intelligent States or Provinces, based on programs and practices at the municipal, county and state level.

Guests to include leaders from around the world and the Global Top7 Intelligent Communities, one of which will succeed Winnipeg as the 2022 Intelligent Community of the Year

(August 11, 2022, New York, NY & Dublin, OH, USA) – The Intelligent Community Forum (ICF), the Institute for the Study of the Global Intelligent Community and the city of Dublin, Ohio, USA will present the 2022 ICF Global Summit: The Future of the Connected Community: The Intelligent Ohio Framework from October 26-27.

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)

(June 14, 2022 – New York City, NY, USA & Binh Duong, Vietnam) – On June 21, 2022, the Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) and Binh Duong province will jointly present the 2022 Top7 Intelligent Communities Conference & Announcement: After the Pandemic: How Digital Innovation Drives Growth in Our Communities. The day-long conference features live and online events in Binh Duong, culminating in the announcement of the Top7 Communities of 2022. ICF co-founder Louis Zacharilla will be at the live event to deliver the keynote address on the current state and evolution of the Intelligent Community.

The Top7 Communities are chosen from among the Smart21 Communities of 2022 to be finalists in the yearly Intelligent Community Awards. In October 2022, one of these seven communities will be named the Intelligent Community of the Year at ICF’s Global Summit. The city of Binh Duong was one of the Top7 Communities of 2021 and is a Smart21 Community again this year.

(March 8, 2022 – New York City) – The Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) today announced the launch of new online courses in economic and community development for the digital age as part of its Community Accelerator program. The Community Accelerator is a set of online courses that train the champions of change in your city or region in assembling the key building blocks of growth in 2022: affordable and high-quality broadband connectivity, an education system that produces a skilled workforce and innovation in business and government. It offers detailed roadmaps, illustrated with real-world examples, of successful economic strategies, team-building, community engagement, regional partnerships and much more.

Communities from nine nations, including Greece and New Zealand, named this year

(24 February 2022 – Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada & New York, New York, USA) – At the conclusion of a virtual conference co-hosted by the Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) and Economic Development Winnipeg, ICF today named the world’s Smart21 Communities of 2022. The selection of the annual Smart21 Communities of the Year marks the beginning of the annual nine-month process which will conclude when ICF names the 2022 Intelligent Community of the Year in October at the ICF Summit. Winnipeg was the 2021 Intelligent Community of the Year.

Each of the cities, towns, or regions that appear in the Smart21 have applied the six principles of the ICF Method to begin building inclusive economic prosperity, social health and cultural richness, which together make a community strong and resilient. Most have been working on their programs for several years.