On the morning of June 17, Taiwan time, the 2016 ICF awards ceremony was held in Columbus Ohio. Montreal, Canada was named Intelligent Community of the Year. Hsinchu passed through three qualifying rounds to reach the Top7 stage, winning glory for Taiwan and honor for Hsinchu!
When Magistrate Chiu took the stage to receive the Top 7 award, he said that this time the competing cities were judged by six indicators, namely broadband, knowledge workforce, innovation, digital equality sustainability and advocacy showing that Hsinchu County has really become an international “city.” As well as congratulating Montreal, he thanked all county citizens for marching forward together hand-in-hand and county councilors for their supervision and for everyone working together to promote sustainable industrial development and molding a city brand to show the world that Hsinchu is model intelligent city. ICF Chairman John G. Jung said that finalists always get better and he hoped that Hsinchu will enter again next year and do even better!
Magistrate Chiu appeared with industry-government-academia-research-medicine representatives from Hsinchu at the Top7 cultural exchange meeting dressed in Hakka flora cloth shirts, singing the classic Hakka Song together and displaying the splendor of Hakka culture, leaving the other cities with a deep impression. Also, outstanding products from the county such as crystal glaze vases, the fancy scrolls that are hung at festival time in Hakka communities, a Hakka history 3D animated film, painted sacred pigs, money-saving bamboo tubes, solar panels, special agricultural products, Hakka floral cloth bags and Happy Taiwan paperweights were displayed continuously at the summit’s Economic Development Day, Community Accelerated Development Day and Intelligent City Day events.
Hsinchu County took part in the Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) Global Intelligent Community rankings last year. The county reached the Smart 21 stage on October 21, 2015 and the Top 7 stage on February 10, 2016, ICF Chairman and Co-Founder John G. Jung visited the county for onsite inspection April 13-16 and praised its smart resources integration framework, saying it matched this year’s theme of “From Revolution to Renaissance.”
Hsinchu County has achieved notable success in the area of strengthening the public services network with the Convenient Public Service portal, public opinion convergence platform, smart household registration, smart energy saving, smart green buildings, smart transport iBus and smart tourism, seniors’ e-bus ticket, smart learning, smart labor services, community knowledge agriculture and smart new farmers’ market, free wireless Internet and smart living hall, low carbon smart blue ocean, healthy and senior-friendly city, cloud police administration system, remote township digital wireless establishment, Hsinchu County Happy Go Online Smart tax payment and innovative traditional Xinwawu Hakka Culture Park. Leading the way in bringing about a smart revolution in the public arena, Hsinchu is well on the way to a splendid renaissance.
During his stay in Columbus, Magistrate Chiu visited the local overseas Chinese community and was warmly received by the President of the Hakka Association of Columbus Liao, Wen-xing and his wife Li, Gui-qing and Chen, Shi-xian and his wife Huang, Shu-juan. Hsinchu County will continue to focus on industry-government-academia-research-medicine cooperation to improve the living and working quality of Hsinchu County. As a member of the civil organization the ICF, efforts to market the county around the world will continue.