A celebration at the Electric Power Board in Chattanooga brought community and government leaders together as Chattanooga was officially designated one of the world’s smartest cities in 2011 by the Intelligent Community Forum, an economic and social development think tank that studies 21st Century growth in the global community.
EPB’s fastest residential Internet speeds in America, Chattanooga’s free wireless Internet on public transit, and the academic preparation of future technology workers at UTC and other schools and colleges persuaded the Intelligent Community Forum to honor Chattanooga.
“We’re thrilled that our students are attending college in one of the seven smartest cities,” Chancellor Roger Brown, said. “We are excited to be recognized in applying smart technology in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields with our SimCenter and other educational endeavors. UTC is a great place for students to learn to solve community problems using technology.”
Infrastructure alone was not enough to be included in the top seven; the designation also depended upon the collaboration of 30 entities to demonstrate that Chattanooga uses its infrastructure wisely. Robert Bell, Executive Director of the Intelligent Community Forum, offered his congratulations to Chattanooga for making great strides in the last two decades.
Bell said the point of the designation is “to deliver transformation.”
“It’s a world where being connected is more important than being in the right place,” Bell said.
As one of the seven most intelligent communities, Chattanooga is a “great place to live and work and raise the next generation,” Bell added.
U.S. Senator Bob Corker told the group his work with the Foreign Relations Committee takes him all around the world, and everywhere he travels people want to know what’s going on in Chattanooga.
“I cannot imagine living in a more progressive, intelligent community,” Corker said. “It is amazing how local leadership in the private and public sector has been able to build onto past success.”
In November, Chattanooga made the first cut to be included among the Top 21 selected by the Intelligent Community Forum. In January, Chattanooga made the second cut to be named one of the Smart 7. Now, Chattanooga is on a quest to be named the Intelligent Community of the Year in June.
Click here to see video from the event.
Learn more about Chattanooga’s quest to become the Most Intelligent Community at the Smart City Chattanooga Facebook page or the Intelligent Community Forum Facebook page or the Twitter page. Continue the discussion on Twitter using the hashtag #ChattICF.
Related Links:
www.facebook.com/SmartCityChattanooga
www.facebook.com/IntelligentCommunityForum
http://twitter.com/#communityintel
