Columbus has been named one of the top seven most intelligent cities in the world by the Intelligent Communities Forum, according to NBC News. Columbus was the only city in the country to make the list.
The founder of ICF, Robert Bell, presented the city with an award for its achievement and to judge it for signs of intelligence. The city could wind up being named the most intelligent in the world for 2013 at a conference in June.
“Is what’s taught in your universities and your technical schools informed by the needs of business? Is government at the table trying to shape the outcomes for the good of all the citizens not just the top-tier citizens? Columbus has those things in abundance. While I’ve been here I’ve heard two words over and over again, you want to be open and want to be smart, and those are great advantages in the 21st century,” Bell said.
While in Columbus, Bell visited Battelle, Nationwide Children’s Hospital, The Ohio State University, the OSU Super Computer, the Columbus Metropolitan Library and TechColumbus.
Bell said, “Technology is just a tool. It’s an enabler. The magic happens when people all up and down the income ladder, all up and down the education ladder, of many cultures come together and use it to create something new and exciting.”