Québec City landed on the Intelligent Community Forum’s (ICF) prestigious list of the world’s “Smart 21 Communities of the Year” for the third time last October. Its application during the first stage toward obtaining the title of Intelligent Community of the Year resulted in Québec City being selected from among 400 candidate cities across the globe. Now is the time to encourage all citizens to contribute to Québec City’s application to be a Top 7 Intelligent Community in 2014.
Economic development agency Québec International, in collaboration with a number of socioeconomic partners in the Québec City region, is hard at work preparing the application for the second stage so that Québec City can continue its quest to be named one of the seven finalists for the title of “Intelligent Community of the Year.”
“Québec City’s application to be named a Top 7 Intelligent Community is a logical extension of our position as a resolutely innovative city that harnesses the talent, creativity and desire to excel of entrepreneurs and citizens alike. I call on all citizens to contribute to Québec City’s bid by visiting our website and telling us why you think that the ICF should select Québec City as an intelligent community in 2014,” said Québec City mayor Régis Labeaume.
Reach for the “Top7”
Citizens are invited to contribute to Québec City’s application to become a “Top 7 Intelligent Community” by sharing what, according to them, makes the City an intelligent community. They can share their thoughts and comments at ville.quebec.qc.ca/villeintelligente.
The “Top 7” will be announced on January 23, 2014. The ICF jury will then visit the Top Seven cities/regions during the spring. The Intelligent Community of the Year will be announced at the ICF’s annual summit in New York City on June 6, 2014.
What is an intelligent community?
Innovation is the defining characteristic of an intelligent community. Intelligent communities innovate to optimize the services that they provide to citizens and that facilitate their daily lives, to support economic development, to reduce environmental impacts and to enhance community services. Citizen participation, culture, urbanism, energy management and transportation are a few of the vast number of aspects that come into play when creating an intelligent community. In short, everything that contributes to the birth and growth of a city.
The improvement of online municipal services, the children’s municipal council, the La Ruche crowdfunding platform and the RTC’s heated bus shelters equipped with free WiFi are just a few examples of innovations that benefit the community as a whole.
Québec City, an intelligent community
Québec City is an innovative capital overflowing with creativity. It has a strong economy driven by knowledge, high technology and international-calibre research. Blessed with a pool of specialized, highly educated workers, it invests in structural projects that enable it to carve out a place among the most competitive cities for doing business in North America. For more information, visit ville.quebec.qc.ca/villeintelligente.
Québec International
Québec International contributes to the economic development of the Québec City metropolitan region and its international standing. As a regional economic development agency, Québec International fosters business growth, supports key economic clusters and attracts talent and investment to the region. For more information, visitwww.quebecinternational.ca.
