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Mike Peters In 2021, Winnipeg hit the global stage in a big way by beating out hundreds of other communities around the world and Canada to win the top honour as the Most Intelligent Community. The Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) is a think tank backed by thought leaders in business and philanthropy, like Michael Bloomberg, Canada's Jim Ballsillie, former Cisco and IBM Executive Nicola Villa and 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. It's not just technology that makes a community intelligent, it's how a community works collaboratively, to work smarter and move the needle forward on several things; connectivity, engagement, inclusive education and career opportunities, innovation and efforts to make a city more sustainable. Winnipeg checked all those boxes for the ICF in 2021. It's not an award that a city can 'buy'—you earn it by emulating the best of the above-stated criteria. "Sometimes, we are our own worst enemies. We need to champion our city by celebrating and sharing all the things and people that make it so great," says EDW President & CEO, Dayna Spiring. "We can leverage this to attract businesses and investment here. It's a jumping-off point where we answer the question, 'Why don't you move or expand your business to the Most Intelligent Community in the world?'" Winnipeg's submission and a virtual site visit in September 2021 was led by staff at EDW and the City of Winnipeg in collaboration with several partners across business, industry, educational institutions and the Province of Manitoba. "We're proud that ICF recognized our city for the strides it has made and continues to make. It speaks volumes about what can be achieved in Winnipeg and reinforces this is a great place to live, work and build a company," says Spiring. "We know our strong collaborations across businesses, industry, education and government means positive change can happen quickly. We can credit that to our tight-knit community that repeatedly comes up with innovative ways to solve problems." "Our city has done a lot of work to make sure we are a more connected, inclusive, engaging, innovative and sustainable city—one that is making every effort to ensure there are plenty of opportunities for success for anyone who chooses to live and build a life here. We are ecstatic that ICF has recognized all the hard work we have done, and we're thrilled with this honour," says City of Winnipeg Mayor, Brian Bowman. This is the first time Winnipeg has been selected as the Most Intelligent Community by ICF, but it has made the Top7 list three times (2014, 2016 and 2018) and was chosen as a Smart21 Community nine times since 2011, when Winnipeg started developing submissions for the award. Winnipeg on the world stage Most Intelligent Community 12 2021 ANNUAL REPORT