The international think tank Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) included Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, on its list of the 21 most intelligent communities in the world. Making it onto the Smart21 list is the first step in the competition of over 400 communities worldwide vying for the title of the most intelligent community of the year.
All the areas on the Smart21 list are good examples of economic development and the city government of Tallinn considers it an honour to even be included on the list.
Tallinn and the other competitors all focused on the same themes in their applications for this year – innovation and employment. Tallinn was then compared to other communities on the basis of these two areas. Tallinn’s application included descriptions of programmes and development plans that have created a foundation for innovation in the city of Tallinn, including the initiative to create an IT academy and the Estonian Information Society Strategy 2013+.
This is not the first time the city of Tallinn has been recognised by the ICF. From 2007-2010 Tallinn was ranked among the Seven Most Intelligent Communities.
The Intelligent Communities Forum is a non-profit organisation that brings together intelligent communities from all over the world. The organisation introduces its members’ accomplishments to the world, helps to develop valuable ties among the public and private sector leaders in its communities, helps with peaceful development in communities, and tries to ensure good opportunities for innovative and dynamic information technology development.
Only communities that qualify for the Smart21, Intelligent Community of the Year, or Top Seven Intelligent Communities can be members of the ICF. Tallinn’s participation in the work of the ICF offers good opportunities to gain useful knowledge about IT and other high-technology solutions in the public sectors of other countries. Being part of the ICF also helps to introduce Tallinn as an innovative and developed community with modern solutions in the public sector outside of the European Union.