Six U.S. Venues Make the Smart21 List

Ten North American cities made the Smart21 Intelligent Communities of 2012 list, compiled and released by the Intelligent Community Forum.??

Each year, the ICF defines a theme that guides the nominations for the Intelligent Community of the Year. The 2012 theme is “Intelligent Communities – Platforms for Innovation.” Innovation is one of ICF’s five permanent indicators used to judge communities seeking award status. However the special theme focuses on how Intelligent Communities create "uniquely powerful innovation ecosystems on a foundation of information and communications technology," the group explains.??In addition to the 10 honorees from North America, there are 4 communities from Europe, 3 from Latin America and 4 from Asia. More than half are on the list for the first time. The list follows:

• Arlington County, Va.
• Austin, Texas
• Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
• Columbus Region, Ohio
• Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil
• Dakota County, Minn.
• Danville, Va.
• Durango, Mexico
• Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany
• Heraklion, Crete, Greece
• Ipswich, Queensland, Australia
• New Taipei City, Taiwan
• Oulu, Finland
• Prospect, South Australia, Australia
• Quebec City, Quebec, Canada
• Riverside, Calif.
• Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada
• Stratford, Ontario, Canada
• Taichung City, Taiwan
• Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas, Mexico
• Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Commented ICF Co-Founder Louis Zacharilla, “The Smart21 of 2012 are a diverse group which represent the degree to which the intelligent community movement has spread. I am particularly pleased that Mexico and Finland, two very diverse cultures, are represented for the first time. We can also see how perennial communities in the USA, Canada and Taiwan continue to create communities for the 21st Century based on innovation and how communities that few have heard of before have become great places to live.”??

The Smart21 announcement is the first stage of ICF’s annual Intelligent Community Awards cycle.  Coming up are the Top Seven Intelligent Communities of the Year, selected from among the 21. The Top Seven announcement will be made Jan. 15, 2012, at the annual Pacific Telecommunications Council conference in Honolulu. The cycle concludes in New York City on June 8, 2012, during ICF’s annual “Building the Broadband Economy Summit,” where one of the Top Seven will succeed The Eindhoven Region as “Intelligent Community of the Year 2012.”??