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Columbus Recognized Among Global Technology Leaders

Go big or go home certainly applied this week as representatives from the city of Columbus, Connect Ohio, Connected Nation, and Ohio State University, attended the 2015 Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) Summit in Toronto, Canada. Connect Ohio compiled extensive mapping, data and research on Columbus Broadband access, adoption and use to support Columbus’ application for the 2015 Intelligent Community of the Year Award.  Connect Ohio’s contribution served as a foundation for the ICF evaluation.

The ICF Summit is an international gathering of mayors, chief administrative officers, chief information officers, and economic development officers from cities, states, and regions from around the world to honor the Top 7 Intelligent Communities. Intelligent Communities understand the enormous challenges of the broadband economy and have taken conscious steps to create a community capable of prospering in it. Connect Ohio provided information and assisted in the application of the ICF Top 7 Application and was invited to attend as representatives for the city of Columbus.

Columbus was selected after a year-long evaluation that included a quantitative analysis of extensive data, site inspections by the Intelligent Community Forum, and votes from an international jury made up of experts from around the world. Communities in the awards program are evaluated based on these five Intelligent Community Indicators: broadband, advocacy, knowledge workforce, innovation, and digital inclusion.

From Left to Right: Stu Johnson (Vice President of Digital Works), Gary Cavin (Columbus CIO Director), Lindsay Shanahan (Executive Director of Connect Ohio), and Mayor Michael B. Coleman (Mayor of Columbus, Ohio), gathered around the ICF Trophy presented to Columbus, Ohio.

In addition to Columbus the other finalists were Arlington County, Virginia; Ipswich, Queensland, Australia; Mitchell, South Dakota; New Taipei City, Taiwan; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; and Surrey, British Columbia, Canada. Information on each of the finalist cities can be read here: ICF Top 7 for 2015.   The Top7 incorporate economic and social transformation in the twenty-first century. A community does not need to be the most advanced technology center, the most connected city or have the fastest growing economy in the world.  A Top7 Community demonstrates the greatest practices in broadband distribution and use, workforce development, modernization, digital inclusion, and support that provide instructions to regions, cities, towns, and villages around the world. It sets a path that ensures lasting prosperity for its citizens, businesses, and institutions. During the summit, all the communities had the opportunity to highlight their successes and learn from the other communities. 

At the ICF Summit, participants attended meetings such as Business Development Matchmaking and Urban and Rural Masters Classes. The week culminated at the Intelligent Community Awards Dinner on Thursday evening. During the dinner, the ICF founders (Robert Bell, John G. Jung, and Louis Zacharilla) announced Columbus, Ohio as the 2015 Top Intelligent Community. Mayor Coleman accepted the award on behalf of the city of Columbus, and in his acceptance speech, he gave a special mention to Connect Ohio, CNX and Connected Nation.

“First of all, let me say on behalf of the city of Columbus and all our residents, we’ve won a lot of things in the past many years, my sixteenth year in office, and I want to say this recognition is one of the most important and significant recognitions our city could ever receive,” said Mayor Coleman. “I want to thank a few folks, The Ohio State University, Cisco, Connected Nation, Connect Ohio, Columbus 2020, Connected Nation Exchange (CNX), IT Martini and Director Gary Cavin and crew.”

Columbus has much to celebrate for this special distinction.  After three years as a finalist, the city of Columbus received the honor after 15 years of planning. For Mayor Michael Coleman, the award is an important recognition for his last year in office. Congratulations, Columbus for being named the 2015 Top Intelligent Community!

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