The Top7 list in 2022
Fredericton has built an incredible knowledge economy , especially for its size ( Pop : 65,000 ). Its free WiFi , Digital Fredericton strategy and combination of smart services , private entrepreneurship and cooperative public investment in ICT completely transformed its economy where more than 70 % of New Brunswick ’ s knowledge industries now call Fredericton home and , on a per capita basis , the city hosts the largest engineering cluster in North America .
New Tapei City represents the collection of 28 districts and over 1000 villages surrounding Taipei , making its 4 million population the largest city in Taiwan . Its conurbanization strategy since 2010 created new smart transportation , utility and broadband applications , opportunities for entrepreneurship and increased knowledge work examples .
Prospect is the smallest of this year ’ s TOP7 ( Pop : 21,000 ) but packs more smart city and Intelligent Community best practices than many communities ten or twenty times its size . Among its many examples , Prospect implemented its “ Next Generation ” Digital Economy Strategy , encouraging outside investment and local business use of digital technology .
The Awards are one of the first programs that the Intelligent Community Forum created and they date back more than 20 years , when we first developed what we call the Community Accelerator Strategy during research funded by the Canadian government . We set out to understand how the digital revolution was changing the forces affecting the economic and social welfare of cities and regions , and what successful places were doing to respond in terms of economic and community development . From that work , we identified six factors critical to economic , social and cultural growth – the things that makes a community a great place to live , work , start a business , raise a family and prepare a path for the next generation .
Over time , we turned these insights into analytics , recommendations and training for economic developers , community developers and elected and administrative leaders of local government . Cities , counties and regions that adopt the Strategy are surviving and thriving amid technology disruption and global competition . Cities , counties and regions that adopt the strategy are surviving and thriving amid technology disruption and global competition compared to those that don ’ t .
FROM ANALYSIS TO AWARDS Today , we use our analytics to provide communities with assessments of their readiness to survive and thrive in the digital economy . The same data used to offer Intelligent Community Certification is applied to selecting the honorees in our annual awards .
ICF selects the first set of award-winning communities from our global data set on communities , which is frequently updated with assessment questionnaires submitted during the most recent three-year period . The selection is based on their scoring , the date when it was last updated , and value we assign to the model of development they represent that year . From analysis of the remaining data , ICF announces our Smart21 Communities of the Year ®, semifinalists for Intelligent Community of the Year , in February .
We invite the Smart21 to answer narrative questions about their most important programs promoting connectivity , workforce development , innovation , engagement , digital inclusion and sustainability . An independent team of Analysts reviews answers to the narrative questions and scores them . These scores are combined with the Smart21 scoring
Sunshine Coast is known for more than its beaches and incredible sunsets . It brought several communities and shires together to create a smart and intelligent broadbandand knowledge work-based economy that has outpaced most of the regional economies in Australia through its diversity of key sectors including healthcare , education , finance and professional business services .
HOW DO WE SELECT THE TOP7 ? If you have seen one award program , you have seen them all . Except in the case of the Intelligent Community Awards .
Espoo , Finland , winning the Intelligent Community of the Year award
VOL 16 NO 1 2023 22 www . edaustralia . com . au