Greater Taichung was on Friday named the Intelligent Community of the Year for this year by the Intelligent Community Forum (ICF).
The US-based ICF promotes the development of so-called “intelligent communities” around the world, which includes the efficient use of information and communications technology.
It said Taichung, boasting a sound infrastructure, represented a good combination of technology and cultural development.
“The rise of Taichung over the past decade has been a well-planned, unwavering act of collaborative team-building under the vision of Taichung Mayor Jason Hu (胡志強),” ICF co-founder Louis Zacharilla said in a statement.
“Mayor Hu was determined to put Taichung in the same league as the world’s great cities, both economically and culturally,” Zacharilla said.
In January, the ICF announced the top seven intelligent communities in the world.
In addition to Taichung, Taoyuan County, the US’ Columbus, Finland’s Oulu, Canada’s Stratford and Toronto and Estonia’s Tallinn made the top seven.
The forum announced on Friday that the top prize went to Taichung and presented the award to the city’s delegation at an annual awards ceremony held at Steiner Film Studios in New York.
Last year, Riverside in California won the title of Intelligent Community of the Year.
Greater Taichung Government Deputy Secretary-General Liao Ching-chih (廖靜芝), said she was surprised by the ICF’s decision since she had thought that other cities in the top seven list were very competitive.
Liao said that until Taichung took the top prize in the international event, she had not been aware that the city was so well-developed and had made such a globally recognized achievement.
According to the ICF, Taichung was selected after a year-long evaluation, including quantitative analysis of extensive data on the community, site inspections by the forum’s co-founders and votes by an expert international jury.
The ICF said a relatively low jobless rate of 4.4 percent and annual economic output of US$30 billion are part of Taichung’s success.
“This city understands that a great place to live is not one that only dominates world export markets in areas such as precision manufacturing, machinery and silicon wafer production, but goes to the next level and becomes a great cultural center,” Zacharilla said.
Liao said some judges had told her that they were impressed by Taichung’s ability to integrate technology and culture, which made technological advancement not just an impersonal development, but a driver for a higher living standard.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and