2019 Top7 Intelligent Communities
Two Canadian cities – Abbotsford and Sarnia-Lambton County – have been named among the world’s top intelligent communities.
In an announcement at an event at Laval University in Quebec City, the Intelligent Community Forum’s (ICF) named the Top 7 Intelligent Communities of 2019. This 17th annual Top 7 list includes cities and counties from the United States, Canada, Australia, and Taiwan. One of these seven finalists will be declared Intelligent Community of the Year at the ICF Summit in June in New York City, on Thursday, June 13.
Big, mid-size and small cities, regions that stretch from an urban core to the countryside, are intelligent communities because they embrace the future. As ICF has done every year since 2003, the forum introduces seven communities who have risen to the top.
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
Big cities like Toronto, Melbourne, and New York have appeared on the Top 7 list. However, ICF also looks “under the radar” for cities and counties that use its method to create economic growth, dynamic societies, and rich cultures.
“This year’s group comes from countries that have been applying the ICF method and investing in their own technology, business growth, and educational expansion systematically for a long time,” said ICF co-founder Lou Zacharilla. “They may not be as familiar to the world as some of our previous recipients; but, in this century, it is becoming obvious that any place can become great once the playing field is leveled. Thanks to digital technology, the size and location of a community matter far less than ever before. People can stay home and thrive. That’s the good news that these seven will carry to New York and around the world.”
For more information, view the ICF press release on Municipal World’s Municipal News webpage.