In fact the city has been short listed as one of the world's smartest cities by a New York-based think-tank that focuses on economic development in the broadband economy.
The Intelligent Community Forum lauds the city's highly-skilled workforce, its burgeoning technology sector and broadband initiatives ranging from e-government in Victoria to wireless connectivity in the city.
Vancouver made the first cut in the global competition, being named among the top 21 smartest cities of the world. In January it finds out if it has made the short list of the seven top cities with the final winner for 2008 to be announced in May in New York.
"How smart are we? That's a good question, we'll find out soon," said Colin Stein manager, communications and operations for the Vancouver Economic Development Commission.
Waterloo, Ont., won the top honours for 2007 and this year Fredericton and Edmonton join Vancouver among the Canadian cities to be short listed.
"We are as smart as Waterloo," said Stein.
The 21 cities cover the globe, from Gold Coast City, Australia, to Dundee, Scotland, Hyderabad, India, to Doha (Ad-Dawhah), Qatar and Dublin, Ohio.
"There are some really fascinating stories," said Stein. "I think we have the best stories, we'll see if we can rise to the top. To make it to the next step, that's our goal."
Autor(en)/Author(s): Gillian Shaw
Quelle/Source: The Vancouver Sun, 20.11.2007
