ISSCC member city: Astana selected as the World's Smartest City TOP-21

The International Smart Cities Forum (ICF) has announced the shortlist for the Smart21 Community of 2023, according to the official website of the Astana City Council.

Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, is on the list of the "Smart21 community of 2023", as it is called.

Each year, the International Smart Cities Forum jury selects the top 21 cities from nearly 400 cities around the world based on six key indicators. The six main indicators on which the scores are based include

- Providing the necessary digital foundation for economic growth and broadband network connectivity;

- Integrating digital technologies with access, training and motivation to implement them;

- Meeting local demand for professionals who can add value through knowledge and digital skills;

- Creating growth through innovative partnerships and smart city investments;

- Energising citizens, improving quality of life and providing greater economic opportunities;

- Expanding participation in digital tools that build educational partnerships with citizens.

Six cities in Canada, five in the United States, three in Brazil, three in Australia, one in Northern Ireland, one in Vietnam and one in New Zealand were included in this list.

Astana is the only city of one million people in Central Asia to be included in the list.

Astana is also ranked 64th in the newly published Smart City Index, ahead of Moscow (68), Warsaw (67) and Rome (65).

According to Astana city government sources, the aim of the SCI ranking is to help investors, governments and regulators track the attractiveness of cities as centres of new technologies, investment and product technologies by measuring the growth of their regulatory systems, levels of innovation development, science and technology, energy systems, and machine learning.

The index focuses on three elements by tracking a city's performance in innovation and technology related areas, namely

- Innovation support - the support provided by regulators and other government agencies for innovation and technology in cities;

- Creative intensity - the intensity of technology and innovation services and opportunities in the city;

- Deliverability - the quality of the technology and innovation work undertaken in the city.

Astana enters the sixth edition of the Smart Cities Index for the first time in 2022. The team that compiled the Index ranking praised the level of support for innovation in Astana. In that edition Astana scored 650, higher than Tokyo, Seoul, Beijing and Seattle.