In the News
Arlington Named as Smart 21 Community of the Year
Arlington County has been named one of 21 “Smart Communities” by the Intelligent Community Forum, a think tank that studies the economic and social development of the 21st Century community. ICF seeks to share the best practices of the world's Intelligent Communities in adapting to the demands of the Broadband Economy, in order to help communities everywhere find sustainable renewal and growth.
The county was among about 400 jurisdictions across the world that submitted applications for the designation, which looks at planning, transit, education and civic involvement to determine which communities make the list.
“Arlington has certainly become a ‘smart’ community in many ways,” said Joseph Pelton, who chairs the county government’s Information Technology Advisory Commission and was among those working in support of the designation.
Following additional submission of documentation, the 21 finalists will be narrowed down to seven “Intelligent Communities of the Year.”
In addition to the three Virginia communities, others on the list of 21 finalists include Ballarat, Victoria, Australia; Besancon, France; Dakota County, Minn.; Dublin, Ohio; Dundee, Scotland; Eindhoven, the Netherlands; Gold Coast City, Brisbane, Australia; Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada; Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; Porto Alegre, Brazil; Riverside, Calif.; Suwon City, South Korea; Tallinn, Estonia; Taoyuan County, Taiwan; Tel Aviv, Israel; Tianjin Binhai New Area, China; Trikala, Greece; and Windsor-Essex, Ontario, Canada.
Populations of the finalist communities range from 17,000 to more than 2 million.
The Intelligent Community Forum began issuing lists of the top seven Intelligent Communities of the Year in 2002.
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