Winnipeg listed among world's top intelligent communities

Winnipeg is considered one of the world's top intelligent communities, according to an international forum.

The city has been listed as one of this year's top seven intelligent communities — one of three Canadian cities to make the list.

The Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) released its list on Thursday. It includes the following, with the explanation in brackets:

• Arlington County, Virginia, USA — which is building its own fibre network to boost broadband service and re-energize government-business-university collaboration.​
• Columbus, Ohio, USA — which in its recovery from the 2008 recession has 20,000 more jobs than it did at its last economic peak in 2007.​
• Hsinchu City, Taiwan — the first city in Taiwan to implement e-learning platforms for its students and establish a science park.
• Kingston, Ontario, Canada — which leveraged its educational institutions to build an innovation economy focused on environmental sustainability.
• New Taipei City, Taiwan — a new city forged from communities surrounding the nation’s capital, which is creating a unified and dynamic knowledge economy.
• Toronto, Ontario, Canada — with a renowned waterfront development that will provide Internet at 500 times the speed of conventional residential networks.
• Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada — where reinvention of its agricultural legacy is creating strong growth while preserving a valued heritage .

"This year's top seven group is unusual in that they represent only three nations. However, they collectively are a canvas that represents our movement," Lou Zacharilla, ICF co-founder, stated in a release.

"Each made it to the list by demonstrating how they have begun to fuse technology, culture and collaboration for economic sustainability. They have set a new course for other cities to follow.

"We look forward to welcoming them to New York in June for the selection of the Intelligent Community of the Year."

Study after study notes that cities all over the globe need solutions to a wide range of problems from transportation and the environment to economic growth and education. Intelligent Communities provide solutions, states the ICF news release.

The top seven were chosen from hundreds of evaluated communities from around the world.

The ICF awards happen in New York City in June 2014 during the Intelligent Community Forum’s annual summit, where one of the top seven intelligent communities will succeed Taichung City, Taiwan, as 2014 Intelligent Community of the Year.