Sunshine Coast was selected from among a group of almost 400 nominations, based on the six Intelligent Community Indicators of broadband, knowledge workforce, innovation, digital equality, sustainability, and advocacy to be named as one of the world’s Smart21 Communities.
The Sunshine Coast joins other Australian towns, Ipswich and Melbourne, now in contention for the prestigious designation of an Intelligent Community Top7, to be named in Taipei, Taiwan in February 2017. One of the seven will then be named Intelligent Community of the Year in New York in June 2017.
ASCA President Michael Whereat said Prospect, Ipswich and the Sunshine Coast were among Australia’s leading smart city communities who had embraced the opportunities of the digital economy.
“As smart communities, they use information communication technologies and data to be more efficient, provide cost and energy savings, improved service delivery, better quality of life and a reduced environmental footprint,” he said.
“This continued success of our members is an example of how communities can build liveable, sustainable, workable smart cities by putting our citizens, local businesses and stakeholders at the core of our activities.”
Mr Whereat said the adoption of smart technology in city/town management, energy, water, health and transport, along with high-speed broadband, could add more than 70,000 jobs to the Australian economy and bring 1.5 percent growth to Australia’s Gross Domestic Product within five years.
Regional Development Australia (RDA) Sunshine Coast CEO Darrell Edwards congratulated both cities on their achievements.
“It is great to see two Queensland communities represented in the Smart21 Communities of 2017, including the Sunshine Coast as a leading smart city,” said Mr Edwards.
“This recognition is indicative of how the Sunshine Coast has embraced opportunities of the digital economy and continues to foster innovation and smart technology in our community.”
The Smart21 Communities of 2017 include seven communities from Canada, five from Taiwan, four from Australia, and one each from Kazakhstan, New Zealand, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
The New York-based Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) is a global movement of nearly 150 cities, metro regions and counties with a think tank at its heart. ICF studies and promotes the best practices of the world’s Intelligent Communities as they adapt to the new demands and seize the opportunities presented by information and communications technology. T ICF conducts research, hosts global events, publishes books, and produces its high-profile annual international Intelligent Communities awards program.