Kelowna in the running for Intelligent Community of the Year award

The City of Kelowna has been recognized by a New York based organization for its economic,social and cultural developments as they relate to the digital age.

The Intelligent Community Forum has named Kelowna one of 21 finalists in its Smart21 Communities of 2018 contest.

“Being named a Smart 21 Community is global recognition that the City, its citizens and businesses are all playing a part in moving Kelowna forward as an innovation-based community,” said Mayor Colin Basran in a news release.

The rankings are complied based on self-described work in six categories including broadband availability, innovation and knowledge workforce development.

The release states, “Among other things, the City’s application focused on its deployment of a dark fibre network, the Climate Action Plan, the Okanagan Centre for Innovation, the Okanagan Young Professionals Collective, the Imagine Kelowna engagement program and the City’s Open Data information on kelowna.ca.”

There are 11 other Canadian cities on the list including Olds, St. Albert and Parkland County in Alberta.

Other finalist communities are in Australia, Taiwan, Finland, France and the USA.

“While these are diverse places, they all connect this year as places that take the humanization of data seriously,” said ICF co-founder Louis Zacharilla. “Data has no value unless it is put in the service of a better, more prosperous region, city or town.”

The ICF Intelligent Community of the Year will be named at its Global Summit in London in June.