Newmarket named one of world’s Smart21 Communities
The town is now in the running for the 2020 Intelligent City of the Year international awardÂ
Newmarkettoday.ca
October 25, 2019
On Oct. 22, 2019, the Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) announced that Newmarket has been named one of the world’s Smart21 Communities of 2020. These 21 semi-finalists for the international award are global communities deemed most ready for the 21st century.
“We could not be more excited to be in such good company, recognized as one of the world’s most intelligent communities,” says Mayor John Taylor. “This truly demonstrates Newmarket’s commitment to improving our quality of life through technology and innovation. I would like to sincerely thank our community and all of our partners that we have worked with over many years that have helped Newmarket as we continue to prepare for a sustainable future.”
The Smart21 communities are identified from hundreds of communities across the globe and evaluated based on six factors (advocacy, broadband, digital equality, knowledge workforce, innovation and sustainability). These communities are recognized as applying these principles to build local economic expansion and prosperity, social health and cultural richness.
Newmarket, Ontario joins four other Canadian cities and nine other nations, including Taiwan, USA, Estonia, France, Australia and New Zealand on the Smart21 list. These 21 communities are in the running for the 2020 Intelligent City of the Year.
Newmarket has continued to take big steps toward being recognized as an intelligent community through initiatives like Envi (the town’s community-owned high-speed broadband provider) and the solar-powered smart bench program, which uses data-driven technology to improve quality of life in the community.
Following this announcement, the Smart21 communities will complete detailed questionnaires providing more information on their communities.
