Two Canadian cities have been named to the 2013 top seven "Intelligent Communities" list by the New York-based Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) – but not Vancouver.
The list recognizes communities that "use information and communications technology to grow prosperous, inclusive, sustainable economies."
Toronto and Stratford, Ontario, were named to the list that also includes:
- Columbus, Ohio;
- Oulu, Finland;
- Taichung City, Taiwan;
- Tallinn, Estonia; and
- Taoyuan County, Taiwan.
In naming Toronto, the ICF commended the city for Waterfront Toronto, "North America's largest urban renewal project," which is transforming a brownfield zone at the edge of Lake Ontario into a new city centre including 40,000 residential units, plus commercial space and parks.
"A new center for knowledge industries in North America's third-largest knowledge economy, it will be served by a 1 Gbps fiber-to-the-premise network and integrate green technologies and practices into every aspect of its design and operations," the ICF said. "From Internet access and training in public libraries to a kids@computers program that funds technology for low-income families, Toronto is working to extend the benefits of its success to every part of society. In the process, it is preparing citizens and businesses to compete and win in a global market."
The ICF commended Stratford for building 70 kilometers of open access fibre network with a Wi-Fi overlay. It said the city's efforts have "turned Stratford into a test bed for technology pilots for such companies as Toshiba, Research in Motion and Cisco as well as for institutions including Clemson University and the University of Waterloo."
The ICF said that Winnipeg, Manitoba, and Kingston, Ontario, came close to making the list.
