The city beat other communities that were highly intelligent, though ultimately deemed to be not quite as smart as Taipei. They were Cleveland, Ohio; the Gangnam district of Seoul, Korea; Ichikawa, Japan; Manchester, Great Britain; Tianjin, China; and Waterloo, Canada. These communities and Taipei were the top seven intelligent communities announced by the ICF.
The deputy mayor of Taipei, King Pu-tsung received the award on behalf of his boss, Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou, at the ICF annual convention held June 8-9 in New York.
At a press conference held prior to the event, King elaborated on Taipei's efforts in the realm of broadband development.
"Currently, wireless access is available in major business areas and mass rapid transit stations throughout Taipei," King said. He added that City Hall hopes the city's wireless coverage will reach 90% in July.
King talked about the progress the city has made in IT innovation. He pointed out that science parks had been established in Neihu, Nangang, Beitou and Shihlin to help make the city home to a knowledge-based workforce.
Taipei City Hall rolled out its CyberCity Initiative in 1999, King explained, which was aimed at building an "e-government" and providing convenient services to the public.
The efforts included submitting the application for the ICF to consider Taipei as a finalist in the Intelligent Community of the Year contest in 2004. Taipei failed to win the top prize then, but this award remedies that.
Quelle/Source: Sin Chew Daily, 17.10.2006
