Intelligent Community Forum Announces the 2008 Top Seven Intelligent Communities of the Year
Group of seven communities from around the world are finalists for 2008 Intelligent Community of the Year award; three communities named to list for the second time; America contributes three communities to the list for the first time
(Honolulu, January 14, 2008) -The Intelligent Community Forum announced today its list of the Top Seven Intelligent Communities of the Year, each a model for economic development in the 21st Century, at PTC'08 in Honolulu, Hawaii. The Top Seven announcement is the second stage of ICF's annual Intelligent Community awards cycle. Gaining a place among the Top Seven is a major achievement as well as a step toward even greater recognition for communities working to create prosperity and social inclusion in what ICF terms "the broadband economy."
The Top Seven were selected, based on analysis by academic experts, from among the Smart21 Communities of the Year, a group of semi-finalists named by ICF on October 25, 2007 in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, which was the 2007 Intelligent Community of the Year. On May 16, one of the Top Seven will be named 2008's Intelligent Community of the Year during ICF's Building the Broadband Economy annual summit in New York City.
Cities in the US, Canada, Estonia, South Korea, and the UK
At a PTC'08 reception honoring the Smart21 Communities, ICF co-founder Louis A. Zacharilla announced the 2008 Top Seven. He noted that, for the first time, the Top Seven included three American communities, plus three from the rest of the world that were named to the list a second time. Listed in alphabetical order, the 2008 Top Seven Intelligent Communities of the Year are:
Dundee, Scotland, United Kingdom. This former industrial center known for "jute, jam and journalism" has transformed itself through intensive government-academic-business collaboration and broadband deployment into a UK center for life sciences and digital media. An innovative smart card for citizens was so successful that the Scottish Government asked Dundee to run its national program. With rising net job growth and business starts, Dundee has created a Digital Observatory to track its future progress as an Intelligent Community. (Top Seven 2007)
Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. This community of 50,000 was a broadband "have not" until the City Council led an effort to aggregate public-sector, university and business demand and created e-Novations, its own fiber carrier, then launched the Fred-eZone wireless network offering free connectivity across the city. Today, Fredericton contains 70% of the province's knowledge-based businesses and is using ICT to substantially reduce its carbon footprint.
Gangnam District, Seoul, South Korea. With only 2.5% of Seoul's population, this district produces 25% of the city's economic activity, and has invested its wealth in the next generation of e-government. Since 1995, a relentless digital drive has reduced the cost of government while delivering online services, education, quality of life programs and e-democracy to citizens. Over 70% of citizens have received ICT training through schools, community centers and a TV GOV program. (Top Seven 2007)
Northeast Ohio, USA. The communities of this region are rising from the ashes of deindustrialization to recreate the entrepreneurial business, political and social culture that produced its first wave of prosperity. A successful fiber network deployment by OneCommunity has been leveraged by government and nonprofits to jumpstart new investment, improve healthcare delivery, bring the best in culture and education to urban schools, and engage tens of thousands of area leaders in collaboration over regional economic development.
Tallinn, Estonia. A suggestion by Estonia's president in 1995 that schools be connected to the Internet led to an ICT revolution that has linked 100% of Tallinn's secondary schools to the Web and established over 600 public access points. More than 100,000 adults have received ICT training, while e-government programs have produced one of the most advanced smart card systems in Europe and a middleware program that slashes the costs of e-government. It was not until 2004 that the last Russian troops left the country, yet today, Tallinn receives 77% of all foreign direct investment into Estonia and seven out of ten in its workforce are in the service sector. (Top Seven 2007)
Westchester County, New York, USA. This suburb of New York City was largely ignored by broadband carriers until it amassed demand from public agencies and built a multi-gigabit fiber network that now serves over 3,500 companies. Determined to maintain the quality of life that is its most compelling advantage, the county has invested in promoting business growth, improving the skills of its workforce and fighting digital exclusion in a community that has seen new immigrants become 35% of its population.
Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA. Powerful government-business-academic collaboration led by Wake Forest University permitted this former "tobacco capital" to build a fiber network that spurred demand and led to an 88% broadband penetration rate. The partners have used this digital foundation to develop free computer labs across the region, create an e-government portal that is number three in the nation, and build a sustainable ICT skills training program. The city and county now count 37,000 biotech employees as residents and will fund a program to put PCs and broadband connections into the homes of low-income students.
A Highly-Anticipated 10-Month, International Awards Program
On January 14, the Smart21 were honored at a reception at the Pacific Telecommunications Council’s annual conference, PTC'08, in Honolulu, Hawaii. Hosted by ICF, the reception was sponsored by Korea Telecom, Metrocomnet and Globecomm Systems. The reception was preceded by a panel discussion with community CIOs and regional business leaders led by Mr. Zacharilla titled "The Rise of the Intelligent Community: Digital Age Visions for the Asia-Pacific Region."
On May 16, 2008, one of the Top Seven will be named Intelligent Community of the Year during the annual Building the Broadband Economy summit at Polytechnic University in New York City. In addition to the Intelligent Community of the Year, ICF will present awards for the Broadband Application of the Year, Intelligent Facility of the Year and honor the Intelligent Community Visionary of the Year. Building the Broadband Economy on May 14-16 is produced in association with Polytechnic University, home to three Nobel Prize recipients, and will feature speakers including Nicola Villa, Global Director, Connected Urban Development at Cisco Systems; Dianah Neff, Senior Partner at Civitium and Philadelphia's former CIO; and Lee Rainie, Founding Director of the Pew Internet & American Life Project, as well as community leaders from around the world.
Selection Process, Sustainability Theme
Following the naming of the Smart21, academic researchers conduct a thorough review of the nominations and generate quantitative scores in the five Intelligent Community Indicators developed by ICF. In addition, according to ICF Chairman John G. Jung, each year's analysis includes a theme that changes from year to year. "In 2008, our theme was sustainability. 'Sustainability' refers to economic viability and smart growth, as well as programs that reduce pollution and curb carbon emissions. Increasingly, Intelligent Communities strive for sustainability in all of these areas."
Speaking of the Top Seven, Mr. Jung added, "In these outstanding communities, the act of building a broadband network with a sustainable business model became a catalyst for efforts on many fronts to create economic growth, social inclusion and environmental stewardship. The network was the starting point, but the communities went on from there to develop a powerful culture of use, which proved transformative. They are inspiring models from which we all continue to learn."
About ICF: Life in the Broadband Economy
ICF is a nonprofit think tank that focuses on the creation of local prosperity and social inclusion in the "broadband economy" of the 21st Century. ICF conducts research, hosts events, offers tours of Intelligent Communities, publishes newsletters and presents awards to help communities understand the opportunities and challenges of the broadband economy, and to promote best practices in economic and social development.
From global networks connecting business centers to DSL, cable and satellites linking homes, broadband is revolutionizing business, government, education, work and lifestyles. Life in the broadband economy is robust. By opening markets, it creates new jobs and gives new focus and hope to communities in transition. By making possible the export of services and skills, it puts workers into wage and skill competition with people around the globe. For governments, it creates the opportunity for unprecedented transparency and responsiveness but also challenges policymakers to overcome the "digital divide" and use ICT to reduce social and economic exclusion.
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