In February, the Sunshine Coast was recognised by the global Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) as one to the Top7 Intelligent Communities of 2019.

Achieving this award from a pool of hundreds of entries, the Sunshine Coast was the only Australian city named in this year’s Top7 and shares the global spotlight with communities from Canada, Taiwan and the United States of America, including Chicago.

Co-Founder of the ICF, Mr John Jung visited the Sunshine Coast this week as part of the judging process for the 2019 Intelligent Community of the Year.

Construction work has kicked off on the Sunshine Coast’s connection to the JGA-South undersea fibre optic cable system.

State Development Minister Cameron Dick announced the milestone for the build of Maroochydore's new landing station over the weekend.

The Sunshine Coast has been recognised as one of the Top7 Intelligent Communities of 2019, sharing the global spotlight with communities from Canada, Taiwan and the United States including Chicago.

The announcement made overnight by the Intelligent Community Forum in Quebec, Canada, acknowledges those communities which exemplify best practices in broadband deployment and use, workforce development, innovation, digital inclusion, sustainability and advocacy.

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

As the Sunshine Coast’s reputation as the nation’s hotspot for innovation continues to grow, its local government has set a new benchmark for community engagement on planning and development matters with the launch of Development.i.

Developed in-house, Sunshine Coast Council’s Development.i sets a new standard for public information and engagement through DA tracking systems.

Queensland’s Sunshine Coast Council has launched a pioneering online application allowing ratepayers to follow local developments in real time.

What’s believed to be the first council in Australia to allow ratepayers to track development applications on their mobile, Sunshine Coast says it also hopes to achieve efficiencies and operational savings through the tool.

GOT a sewing machine, a smartphone and a paintbrush? Then you might be Queensland's next rising fashion business.

The industry of micro-makers has exploded in the state thanks to the creative brains of young women who know their way around an Instagram handle.

There are success stories across Queensland. Cult earring makers like Kenzie Collective and designers like Jericho Road Clothing have built their brands on the back of social media.

THE Sunshine Coast could become home to Google Australia's new headquarters.

Sun Central CEO John Knaggs has today confirmed to Brisbane Times that the company had met with Google Australia about basing its headquarters in the new Maroochydore CBD.

It comes after the NSW Government knocked back the internet giant's new technology hub at Redfern, Sydney.

There is something about Rachel Downie’s voice that suggests she is going to make a difference in the vexed and troubled area of school bullying.

Ms Downie has been a teacher, a head of school and a deputy principal in a 23-year career in education.

She is the mother of two adult daughters.

A SURGING health sector led by last year's opening of the Sunshine Coast University Hospital led job creation on the Sunshine Coast last year, keeping the region's unemployment rate below Brisbane's for the second year in a row.

On Trend data compiled by Conus economist Pete Faulkner shows unemployment on the Sunshine Coast is down to 5 per cent - the level now accepted as full employment, while the jobless figure for Greater Brisbane sits at 5.4 per cent.