This coming April 16 to 18, the Municipality of Quebec City and Québec International, in conjunction with a number of partners, including Université Laval and the Parc technologique du Québec métropolitain, will play host to Louis Zacharilla, the co-founder and director of development of the Intelligent Community Forum (ICF). This visit represents the final step in the process of evaluating Quebec City for the title of Intelligent Community of the Year, and will enable the ICF to validate the main elements of Quebec City's candidacy for Intelligent Community 2012 recognition. It should be recalled that Quebec City has already made two giant steps forward by being ranked among the Smart 21 and then the Top Seven intelligent communities worldwide.
"I'm simply delighted to welcome Mr. Zacharilla to Quebec City, pointed out Quebec City's mayor, Régis Labeaume. He'll be able to see for himself just how our city is simmering with innovation and creativity, thanks to its energetic residents. We're sure that he'll be very impressed by all that our businesses are developing each and every day, and that we'll stand out from the other candidate communities … for, the mayor asserted without hesitation, we've got everything that it takes to earn the title of Intelligent Community of the Year."
The program includes a wide variety of visits to highlight the many initiatives testifying to the creativity, audacity and spirit of innovation that are the life blood of Quebec City.
For example, as soon as Mr. Zacharilla arrives on April 16, he will be taken for a tour on board a Wi-Fi bus operated by the RTC, Quebec City's municipal transit system. This way the ICF representative will be able to discover the RTC Nomade application and get acquainted with Zap Québec's wireless network. Mr. Zacharilla will then be officially received at City Hall by Mr. Labeaume during a session of the municipal council, after which he will visit Quartier Petit Champlain with the help of the new mobile application offered by the Office du tourisme de Québec.
April 17 will be devoted to technoculture and to various initiatives designed by the municipality to put technologies at the service of its residents. The day will begin with a presentation by Bell concerning its telecommunication infrastructures, especially as regards the introduction of the first Fiber to the Home (FTTH) network. Next Mr. Zacharilla will visit the installations of Ex Machina, Frima Studio, TÉLUQ, and the École nationale de divertissement interactif. That afternoon, the Municipality of Quebec City will exhibit a few of its technological projects in various sectors, including transportation, resident services, land-use planning, and open data sharing. To cap off the day, the general public is invited to attend a unique event to celebrate Quebec City's creativity. This festive evening, wedding arts and technology, will showcase all of the talent and intelligence that make Quebec City so effervescent. It will take place at le Cercle and is open to one and all.
April 18 will begin with a presentation by Consortium Télésanté et Mobilité Clinique, Quebec City's telehealth and mobility clinic. Mr. Zacharilla will then make his way to Université Laval, where meetings with researchers and a visit to the Centre for Optics, Photonics and Lasers (COPL), the supercomputer (Colosse), and the e-culture laboratories (LAMIC and LANTISS) will be featured on the agenda. In the afternoon, the Parc technologique du Québec métropolitain will offer Mr. Zacharilla visits to TeraXion, INO, and GlaxoSmithKline.
According to Québec International's president and CEO, Carl Viel, "Quebec City's presence among the elite intelligent communities opens the door to a vast international network and a wealth of new opportunities, and serves as an additional asset to attract talent and investment. This is why Quebec City's participation is so important, and I want to salute the mobilization of a number of regional partners who have enthusiastically contributed to Quebec City's candidacy - and to this visit."
About Intelligent Community Forum recognition
ICF is an independent New York think tank devoted to the development of the Broadband Economy. The organization establishes a list of cities and communities having made significant efforts to stimulate the spirit of enterprise and the emergence of a knowledge-based economy. Each year ICF defines a theme that guides the nominations for the Intelligent Community of the Year. For 2012, the theme "Intelligent Communities - Platforms for Innovation" has been selected as a basis for discovering towns, cities, and regions that have created a unique context of innovation for the benefit of their respective communities. The winner will be announced in June in New York City during ICF's annual Building the Broadband Economy Summit. The other communities in contention are Austin (Texas), Oulu (Finland), Riverside (California), Taichung City (Taiwan), Saint John (New Brunswick) and Stratford (Ontario).
