The Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) today announced the launch of a crowd-funding campaign for its New Connected Countryside project. The campaign can be found on Indiegogo and at www.connectedcountryside.com) and will be active until November 30.

The New Connected Countryside will counter the severe and rising economic pressure faced by rural communities by providing an online platform where community leaders, residents, institutions and businesses from around the world can connect, exchange advice, share resources and build a global network of peers. The program will also include an annual virtual summit, which will feature experts and thought leaders who will give online presentations and lead panel discussions on important issues for rural communities. The New Connected Countryside is part of ICF’s Rural Imperative initiative.

“The countryside has more to gain from being connected with high-quality broadband than urban areas,” said ICF co-founder Robert Bell. “Since the launch of our Rural Imperative project two years ago, led by ICF senior fellow Dr. Norman Jacknis, we have been working to identify the strategies of rural cities, towns and counties that are prospering in the broadband economy, and to share them. The New Connected Countryside will provide us with a global platform for doing just that while engaging rural community leaders around the world in making positive change for the people they serve.”

A dozen leading rural communities have already committed to participate in the project, from Mitchell, South Dakota and Quitman, Mississippi to Parkland County, Alberta and Wanganui, New Zealand. ICF invites other communities who wish to participate to contact us at [email protected].

For more information or to donate to the project, visit the campaign page https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-new-connected-countryside/ or visit www.connectedcountryside.com.

For more information about ICF’s Rural Imperative Initiative, click here: http://www.intelligentcommunity.org/rural_imperative

About the Intelligent Community Forum
The Intelligent Community Forum (www.intelligentcommunity.org), headquartered in New York, is a global movement of 134 cities, towns and regions. As an international think tank and Foundation, ICF studies and promotes the best practices of the world's Intelligent Communities as they adapt to the new demands and seize the opportunities presented by information and communications technology (ICT). To help cities and towns build prosperous economies, solve social problems and enrich local cultures, the Intelligent Community Forum conducts research, hosts global events, publishes books, and produces its high-profile annual international awards program. The Forum has two Institutes in North America dedicated to the study of the movement, with more institutes planned. Global leaders, thinkers, and media observers follow and participate in the ongoing global dialogue initiated by the Intelligent Community Forum. In 2012 ICF was invited to participate at the Nobel Peace Prize conference in Oslo and in 2014, its model and work was recognized by the U.S. Department of Commerce under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, which, according to the American government, was "aimed at creating a more flexible and responsive system of workforce development to meet the needs of employers looking to fill 21st century jobs.” The Forum’s Foundation has an association made up of 134 designated Intelligent Communities worldwide, which is represented by mayors and key civic leaders. For more information, go to www.icf-foundation.org. For more details on the Intelligent Community Forum’s recent publications and programs, www.intelligentcommunity.org

Intelligent Community Forum Contacts
Matthew Owen
Director of Operations
Intelligent Community Forum
Phone: +1 646-291-6166 (x105) -
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @Newcommunities