The City of Hilliard has been named one of the world’s top smart cities, earning a spot in the Intelligent Community Forum’s (ICF) Smart21 communities for a third consecutive year.
The announcement was made Thursday, March 6, at the ICF 2025 Smart21 Summit in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The award recognizes communities that demonstrate best practices in broadband implementation, workforce development, digital inclusion, innovation, advocacy, and sustainability.
The theme of this year’s ICF Summit is “Communities in Transition” and focused on how technology and broadband connectivity help communities across the globe address economic, social, and political issues.
“Our focus on innovation, sustainability, and broadband connection has earned the City of Hilliard international attention once again,” said Hilliard City Manager Michelle Crandall. “The success of our Hilliard City Lab initiative, growing smart infrastructure system, and intentional economic development practices has made Hilliard a model for other communities to follow. We’re excited to take the next steps toward being considered for ICF’s 2025 Intelligent Community of the Year.”
The City hopes to once again be named one of ICF’s Top7 Intelligent Communities of the Year when that announcement is made this summer. The 2025 Intelligent Community of the Year award will be announced at the ICF Global Summit in the fall.
The entire list of communities named in the 2025 Smart21 include:
- Alcobendas, Spain
- Assai Parana, Brazil
- Bilbao, Spain
- Brightlands-Limburg, The Netherlands,
- Bursa Metropolitan Municipality, Turkiye
- Chiayi County, Taiwan
- Coral Gables, Florida
- Durham Region, Ontario, Canada
- Fairfield/Jefferson County, Iowa, USA
- Grey County, Ontario, Canada
- Hilliard, Ohio, USA
- Kingston, Ontario, Canada
- Konya Metropolitan Municipality, Turkiye
- Langley City, British Columbia, Canada
- Las Rozas de Madrid, Spain
- Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia
- Pingtung County, Taiwan
- Ponta Grossa, Parana, Brazil
- Reykavik, Iceland
- Sant Feliu de Llobregat, Spain
- Warner Robins, Georgia, USA
