SURREY - The Intelligent Community Forum has named the City of Surrey one of the world's Smart21 Communities of 2015. After considering more than 300 nominations, leading to 21 semi-finalists, Surrey is now in the running for the designation of Intelligent Community of the Year. Cities in the running are from Canada, the U.S., Australia, Taiwan, as well as Brazil, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya and New Zealand. "This is a significant milestone for Surrey's progressive use of digital technology to foster economic, social and cultural opportunities," said Mayor Dianne Watts in a release. "Being designated a Smart21 community will not only help to advance Surrey's global profile, but it makes our city more attractive to companies looking at investing in Canada."
The city recently adopted the Smart Surrey Strategy, which includes initiatives such as the "My Surrey App," soon to be available Wi-Fi at 40 locations, an open data catalogue, the "Surrey Request App," as well as Innovation Boulevard.