Smarttown? Hamilton eyes No. 1 rank as world’s top ‘Intelligent Community’

Hamilton is super good looking, sure. Old news.

But most intelligent" city on the planet, or at least top seven?

It's a fact, is what people are saying - and facts are stubborn things, as U.S. founding father John Adams once said (but you knew that already, smart people.)

Hamilton was recently named one of the top seven global intelligent communities" by the Intelligent Community Forum (ICF), and this week a judge is gathering information to determine if the city long known as Steeltown - Smarttown? - deserves No. 1.

He would have visited Hamilton in person, if not for COVID-19. Instead the judging process, including interviews, has moved online.

Cities are judged on six intelligent community indicators": connectivity, knowledge workforce, innovation, digital inclusion, community education and engagement, and sustainability.

Hamilton also placed in the ICF top seven in 2018, and top 21 in 2016. It did not enter the competition in 2017 or 2019.

Past winners have included heavyweights like Melbourne, Stockholm, and New York City. (Oh, and Toronto six years ago, perhaps before the ranking process was perfected.)

Lou Zacharilla, a co-founder of the ICF and one of the judges, told The Spectator he's impressed with what Hamilton has done the past five years.

They have accomplished a lot of things they said they set out to do, in starting to diversify their economy."

Others in the top seven are Adelaide and Sunshine Coast in Australia, Tallin in Estonia, Markham, and two Ohio cities: Hudson and Westerville. About 340 cities submitted applications.

When asked why Ontario and Ohio have four of the seven spots, Zacharilla said a common thread is cities managing post-industrial economies that need to look beyond their borders for investment.

Cities in Ohio and Ontario, and in places like Taiwan, for example, need to look outward, they need the global economy and work harder at it. Hamilton gets that, and I think they are looking at a future that is bright and prosperous."

Mayor Fred Eisenberger said a No. 1 ranking would enhance the city's profile, and they have already used Hamilton's past performance in the forum as a marketing tool.

As one example of the ripple effect, he cited the $400-million investment announced by Bell Canada in January to expand its high-speed internet network in Hamilton.

That work is underway and it's a direct outcome of the work we did (promoting the city through the ICF)."

Hamilton's 2020 bid emphasizes collaboration in the community between partners including the city, McMaster University, Mohawk College, Hamilton Health Sciences and Hamilton Community Foundation.

Cyrus Tehrani, the city's chief digital officer, said connectivity in communities is increasingly seen as a human right," and also the fourth utility" after water, gas and hydro.

There is no cost to the city to submit a bid, but it does entail staff time, and in 2018 city officials travelled to London when the forum hosted an event to announce the winner.

This year the winner is revealed in October in Ohio, but it may be done remotely.

Zacharilla, who grew up in Western New York, said he has been to Hamilton for real, at a smart cities conference, and many years ago as a teenager when he visited a friend whose father worked in Hamilton as a machinist.

Your city has certainly grown up in the digital age," he said.

Jon Wells is a Hamilton-based reporter and feature writer for The Spectator. Reach him via email: jwells@thespec.com