Hamilton among Intelligent Community Forum's (ICF) worldwide Top 7 Intelligent Communities of the Year
Mar 22, 2018
Hamilton among Intelligent Community Forum's (ICF) worldwide Top7 Intelligent Communities of the Year | Article from the City of Hamilton
February 8, 2018 - HAMILTON, ON – The City of Hamilton is pleased to announce that Hamilton has been selected by the Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) as one of the Top7 Intelligent Communities of the Year, worldwide.
The Top7 Intelligent Communities represent models of economic and social transformation in the 21st century. They are not necessarily the most advanced technology centres, the most wired cities or the fastest growing economies in the world, but each demonstrates best practices in broadband deployment and use, workforce development, innovation, digital inclusion and advocacy that offer lessons to regions, cities, towns and villages around the world. They are creating new paths to lasting prosperity for their residents, businesses and institutions.
Hamilton’s application highlighted innovative partnerships and initiatives including the Mayor’s Intelligent Community Task Force, world leading research done by McMaster University, Hamilton Health Sciences, and Mohawk College, new delivery models for education and healthcare, as well as the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce’s Digital Infrastructure Task Force work. It also provided information about local post-secondary institutions, community programs and public-private partnerships and collaborations such as Hamilton’s new co-creation hub, CityLAB, a formal partnership between the City, McMaster University, Mohawk College and Redeemer that brings together academics, students and civic leaders to solve City challenges. Parts of the submission also leveraged the data that was brought together to support the Amazon proposal. une 2018, one of the Top7 will be named ICF's Intelligent Community of the Year, based on a second round of analysis, site visits by ICF's co-founders and the votes of an international jury.
About the Intelligent Community Forum (ICF)
The Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) is a global network with a think tank at its centre. It connects hundreds of cities and regions on five continents for collaboration on economic development and for exchange of expertise and information that drives progress. Through this network, ICF researches how Intelligent Communities use information and communications technology to build inclusive prosperity, solve social problems and enrich their community’s quality of life.
About Intelligent Communities
Intelligent Communities strive to make cities even better; a place where citizens and employers thrive and prosper in the broadband economy. They adopt technology, but do not make it their focus. Instead, they find vision-driven, community-based, technology smart solutions to their most urgent problems. They make sure they have the broadband and IT infrastructure they need to be competitive. They also put a lot of energy into developing a workforce able to do knowledge work, crafting an innovation ecosystem where business, government and institutional partners create high-quality employment and meet social needs, and expand access to digital skills and technology for its people. More work also goes into engaging citizens as advocates for progress.
About the Top7 Intelligent Communities process
ICF uses a rigorous analytic method to select the Top7. Each Smart21 Community was invited to complete a detailed questionnaire based on ICF's six Intelligent Community Indicators as well as an annual theme. An international academic team of analysts reviews the questionnaires, scores each one on a variety of factors and produces a quantitative ranking of the candidates. The seven highest ranking candidates become ICF's Top7 Intelligent Communities.
“I am incredibly proud of this achievement. It speaks to Hamilton’s commitment to digital transformation, innovation, digital inclusion, developing our workforce and creating new opportunities for our people. We are in good company with Winnipeg and five other cities around the world – all of us collectively setting an example for other regions, cities and towns who want to forge new paths to lasting prosperity for their residents, businesses and institutions.” - Mayor Fred Eisenberger
