Bursa Metropolitan Municipality is the first TOP7 Intelligent Community in Türkiye. Izmir and Konya Metropolitan Municipalities have met ICF’s Smart21 level, but Bursa has successfully leapt forward, and in its first year of applying, has impressed the adjudicators to make it to the 2025 TOP7. I was interested in finding out how this happened and undertook the site visit as this year’s TOP7 auditor to Bursa. I am glad I did. I was thoroughly impressed. Bursa’s leaders are proud that their community was the first capital of the Ottoman Empire and the terminus of the Silk Road. It is a double UNESCO World Heritage community, has had an amazing growth trajectory as an industrial leader, and is seeking to become a world leader in innovation and sustainability through its transition into a digital ecosystem. But they do not dwell on the past nor ignore it.