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Abbotsford named a top-seven ‘smart city’

Intelligent Community Forum will name its most intelligent community in June
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Intelligent Community Forum co-founder Robert Bell speaks at the University of the Fraser Valley Wednesday. Tyler Olsen/Abbotsford News

Abbotsford has been named a top-seven “intelligent community” by a think tank it is partnering with to attract more investment to the Fraser Valley.

The Intelligent Communities Forum (ICF) has slotted Abbotsford in with six other cities as part of its annual ranking of the nearly 200 communities that make up its membership.

Abbotsford joined up with the ICF in 2018 to launch its “smart city” initiative to develop a “smart infrastructure and foreign direct investment readiness strategy.”

The project will include creating a “how to book” to establish best practices to help communities plan for infrastructure and technology advancements that will enable them to compete on the global stage.

The ICF rates communities based on a community’s work to foster technological innovation, along with items including sustainability, “digital equality,” and “advocacy.”

The six other communities selected were: Chicago, Ill.; Hudson, Ohio; Sarnia-Lambton County, Ont.; Sunshine Coast, Australia; Taoyuan, Taiwan; Westerville, Ohio.

Staff from the communities will take part in a conference in June, at which the ICF will name its “Intelligent Community of the Year.”

The jury is made up of officials from previous award-winning communities.

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