Analytics, Estonia, EU – Baltic States, Innovations, Technology, USA

The Top7 Intelligent Communities of the Year

The following communities, drawn from the Smart21 of 2013, were named to the Top7 Intelligent Communities of 2013 based on analysis of their nominations by a team of independent academic experts:

- Columbus, Ohio, USA: With an economically and racially diverse population, the city trails the US average in terms of per capita income, but has America’s highest concentration of Fortune 1000 companies per capita. Being the state capital has helped but the success of Columbus has been forged through collaboration among city government, academic institutions, businesses and nonprofits.

- Oulu, Finland: The mobile communications business has been good to Oulu, and the mobile business has become a threat to its future. The “Nokia risk” as Oulu’s leaders called it, materialized in the new century as the company failed to adapt to the rise of the smartphone. Yet Oulu has created 18,000 new high-tech jobs since 2007, thanks to a decades-old culture of public-private collaboration and its many high-quality educational institutions. 

- Stratford, Ontario, Canada: At the turn of the new century, Stratford had a reputation for being quaint, cultured and out of the way, home to the Stratford Shakespeare Festival and a 90-minute drive from Toronto, the business capital of eastern Canada. Strategic planning, beginning in 1997, has focused on preserving Stratford’s enviable quality of life while leveraging ICT to transform its economy

- Taichung City, Taiwan: When the city and county of Taichung merged in 2010, it created a huge metropolis uniting completely different economies: a major seaport city where 70% of employees work in services, and a rural county where 50% work in industry and agriculture is a significant source of income. The city’s leadership, under Mayor Chih-Chiang (Jason) Hu, was determined to create a whole much greater than the sum of its parts. 

- Tallinn, Estonia: Estonia saw a major boom from 2004 to 2007, as loan capital poured in from Scandinavian countries. But when the financial crisis came, it hit Estonia and its principal city of Tallinn very hard. Yet beneath the froth, Tallinn has put into place the foundations of ICT-based growth that is generating a strong comeback. 

- Taoyuan County, Taiwan: Home to the international airport serving Taipei, Taoyuan County is an industrial powerhouse, with more than 24 industrial parks, 44,000 companies and 10,000 factories. The county is also home to 15 colleges and universities, which graduate 25,000 students every year. To upgrade the skills of traditional industrial workers and the unemployed, it offers vocational training as well as a range of digital literacy programs for all ages.

- Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Canada’s largest city and financial capital, as well as the political capital of the Province of Ontario, Toronto is one of the world’s more successful places. But it is also challenged to maintain its edge. The city, provincial and Federal governments are addressing these challenges with a development strategy stressing ICT, environmental sustainability and innovation. A key component is Waterfront Toronto, North America’s largest urban renewal project.