Editor's Note: On Oct. 28, 2021, Winnipeg was chosen as the Most Intelligent Community of the Year by ICF. You can read more here.

Winnipeg once again landed on the Intelligent Community Forum’s Smart21 list. The Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) is a think tank with a global network of cities and regions. Its mission is to help communities in the digital age find a new path to economic development and community growth – one that creates inclusivity, prosperity, tackles social challenges and enriches the quality of life for everyone in the community. Every year ICF chooses 21 communities across the globe that excel in six areas that embrace these ideas. This is Winnipeg's ninth commendation to the ICF Smart21 list.Here are 21 reasons (not in any particular order) why Winnipeg made the list.

1. Winnipeg has an exceptionally strong research infrastructure and programs that feed the development of new, high technology ventures in the local innovation ecosystem. Pembina Trails Early College and Sisler High School CREATE Program are nurturing the next generation of innovators with programs in software development, cyber security, coding and Interactive Digital Media. Sisler’s CREATE program has led to collaborations with Nickelodeon and Netflix.
2. Winnipeg is home to major public research and development facilities including Canadian Science Centre for Human and Animal Health, National Research Council Medical Devices, Canadian Grains Commission's Grain Research Laboratory, Canadian International Grains Institute, Canadian Malting Barley Technical Centre, National Centre for Agri-Food Research in Medicine, Richardson Centre for Functional Foods and Nutraceuticals, and St. Boniface General Hospital Research Centre.
   
3. Winnipeg is a leader in education and skills development. The Research Partnerships & Innovation Program offered at RRC Polytech has helped make RRC a Canadian college leader in applied research and commercialization with its many labs, including Advanced Transportation and Energy Centre, Centre for Applied Research in Sustainable Infrastructure, Centre for Aerospace Technology and Training, Electric Vehicle Technology & Education Centre, Paterson Global Foods Institute.
4. The Smartpark Innovation Hub at the University of Manitoba is the primary research and technology park in Manitoba while the Partnerships and Innovation Office at the University of Manitoba works toward increasing the number of partnerships between researchers and groups outside the University of Manitoba and moving inventions from research labs into practical applications that can be used around the world. 
5. Manitoba Technology Accelerator (MTA) is Manitoba’s premier technology commercialization organization, and is in Winnipeg. It focuses on helping disruptive technologies reach early customers and then scaling the business. It has also empowered Canadian entrepreneurs to expand internationally through the Western Canadian Incubator Alliance.
6. Tech Manitoba fosters our city and province's growing tech sector. This industry-led association helps companies thrive and grow through collaboration, education and promotion. Over the past four years, it has supported 200 companies at nine international events that pulled in $400 million in sales and investment. 
7. University of Manitoba’s Data Science Nexus - brings together academia, business, and government to establish post-secondary training to meet the rapidly evolving and expanding needs for data science professionals with a focus on aligning their training with the business skills needed for early and long-term success.
8. Winnipeg is connected. Bell MTS is undertaking a $400 million project to bring the fastest Internet technology to Winnipeg, with direct fibre broadband connections to approximately 275,000 homes. The company joins others like Shaw and CIK Telecom to bring some of the world’s fastest internet speeds to Winnipeg and Manitoba.
9. Manitoba's telehealth system is ensuring people living in northern and remote communities have access to quality healthcare using medical grade videoconferencing and digital diagnostic tools. Patients can meet virtually with health care providers in Winnipeg. Diagnostic images or high-quality photos are taken of the patient, viewed and interpreted by specialists in Winnipeg, eliminating the need for patient travel for consultations. There are 197 unique telehealth sites, with 383 endpoints across the Province that provided service for 34,237 telehealth events in the 2019/2020 fiscal year.
10. The City of Winnipeg's Open Data Program is consistently ranked as one of the top three cities for open data by Public Sector Digest, rising from 20th place in under 5 years. In response to COVID-19, the city moved permit requests, reviews, inspections, and payments online. It revamped its website to make key information easy to find and understand and made 311 city services accessible by telephone, email, web, social media and in person, ensuring that every resident can access the city services they need in the manner that works best for them.
11. North Forge Technology Exchange is a hybrid incubator/accelerator driving Manitoba’s innovation economy and providing founders with award-winning mentors, subject matter experts and a new online four-stage Founders Program. The organization recently announced the creation of the North Forge Angel Network in collaboration with the National Angel Capital Organization (NACO) to further support companies. Armed with the largest non-profit fabrication lab in North America, North Forge operates out of 27,000 sq. ft. across Innovation Drive at the University of Manitoba and Innovation Alley in the Exchange District.
12. World Trade Centre Winnipeg (WTCW) helps Manitoba companies grow globally and supports international companies interested in growing by connecting to Manitoba companies. The WTCW is a member of the World Trade Centers Association, the leading international trade network, representing more than 300 World Trade Centres in nearly 100 countries.
13. The Winnipeg Boldness Project uses social innovation tools to research to develop new ideas for improving outcomes for young children in the Point Douglas community area in Winnipeg. An example is the Canada Learning Bond, a program that provides money to children for post-secondary education via the Registered Education Savings Plan and creates solutions for families that couldn’t traditionally access this plan to access another option.
14. Our tech community created the DisruptED Conference to discuss the skills/talent gap and the future of work. The first DisruptED Conference was hosted in 2016, with 190 participants from industry/government, education and students in attendance. By 2020, the conference had become a much-anticipated event that attracted more than 1,000 participants from across Canada and the U.S.
15. We are power smart and one of the top cities in Canada for low-cost energy. Since 1989, Manitoba Hydro’s Power Smart program and the new Efficiency Manitoba, a crown corporation, have encouraged and helped homeowners and business owners increase their energy efficiency. Natural gas efficiency measures alone have meant a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to taking more than 47,000 cars off the road. Manitobans and Winnipeggers have enjoyed a reduction of more than $1.2 billion on their energy bills and saved a total of 3,128 gigawatt-hours of electricity.
16. Winnipeg is good at getting businesses on board with post-secondary institutions (PSI) to collaborate on the skills of tomorrow. The Manitoba Industry-Academia Partnership (MI-AP) runs AIMday - an event where industry submits questions and raises issues to their needs and challenges. Collaboration between industry, students and PSIs pushes from problem to idea and innovation.
17. Winnipeg has plans to be an innovative leader in the future. RRC Polytech's Manitou-a-bi-bii-daziigae Centre  recently opened in 2021 and houses the ACE Project Space. The centre will be an integral component for innovation and collaboration in Winnipeg's technology and business sectors.
18. We’re innovative and inclusive. ComIT is a registered Charity organization, headquartered in Winnipeg teaching programming, soft skills and professional development capabilities to individuals who would not otherwise be able to afford other training options. ComIT's courses are taught by IT professionals working in leading companies such as SkipTheDishes. They train students in using state-of-the-art tools and programming languages. Corporate sponsors/funders include Canada Life and Google.
19. The City of Winnipeg turns our public libraries into powerhouses of digital inclusion services. Branches offer automated kiosks of smart lockers, allowing the public to pick up and check out their requested items outside of library hours. The Charleswood branch has the province’s first ATM-style self-check-in technology that processes and sorts materials. The Millennium library’s ideaMILL makerspace provides access to 3D printer technology, green screens, computers, robotic workshops, and sound booth technology that allow the public to participate in collaborative and creative technologies. Our libraries offer an array of inclusive online resources for Winnipeg’s marginalized or vulnerable populations, newcomers, parents and children. 
20. We encourage engagement. Through its award-winning engage.winnipeg.ca site, the City of Winnipeg invites public engagement on a multitude of projects and policies including its Governance Model, Multi-year Budgets, Transit Master Plan, Poverty Reduction Strategy, OurWinnipeg and Complete Communities, Small Cell Implementation, and Parking Strategy.
21. Democracy at work and online. The City of Winnipeg offers electronic voting for the city council's Executive Policy Committee to increase transparency in government. All votes are digitally recorded in real-time, displayed on the meeting livestream, displayed on viewing screens in the Council Chamber, recorded within the publicly accessible meeting minutes and made available as Open Data.