Toronto has been named to a list of 21 "smart" communities by a Manhattan think tank devoted to social and economic development.
The
Intelligent Community Forum, co-founded by Kitchener-Waterloo tech exec
John Jung, put Toronto on their list for only the second time since they started the program in 2002. In 2005, the city made the top seven, which is the ICF’s shortlist.
This list of 21 communities is a sort of long list on the way to naming the world's smartest community in June 2013.
The application was made by Waterfront Toronto, under the guidance of Kristina Verner, Waterfront's director of intelligent communities, part of whose job description is to maintain relations with the ICF.
"There were over 400 communities that applied," Verner says, "so it's a great honour to get to this point. It's an opportunity to tell the story and promote the brand that is the waterfront revitalization as well as the city of Toronto."
Verner says the application highlighted the new George Brown campus at the waterfront, TIFF,
ORION and the plan to cover the entire waterfront community with free wifi, as well as the city's
kids@computers program, which was also a part of the
application in 2005.
The top-seven list is announced in January; the winner is named in June.
Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Kristina Verner
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