Visit to mark 'intelligent' status

A co-founder of the international Intelligent Communities Forum is coming to Whanganui this month to tell us how to take advantage of our Top 7 status.

He is John Jung and his presentation takes place on April 26, at the Whanganui War Memorial Centre.

Whanganui was named in the Top 7 Intelligent Communities worldwide in February, the only one in the Southern Hemisphere.

There were 145 communities vying for that status, which is decided mainly by their answers to a detailed questionnaire.

The Top 7 are invited to a summit in Ohio in the United States in June, where the Intelligent Community of the Year will be chosen.

In Whanganui on April 26, Mr Jung's time will begin with networking and canapes at 5.30pm. The session proper will start at 6pm.

He will tell attendees what makes Whanganui a Top 7 Intelligent Community, and how to take advantage of that.

The Intelligent Communities website listing on Whanganui says it experienced a bust in the second half of last century, but was eager to change that through strategies including the use of internet broadband. Intelligent Communities were not the most wired and fastest-growing economies in the world, the site said, but they were focused on inclusive prosperity.

People wanting to attend Mr Jung's presentation must register by April 21. They can email Nicole Kendrick at RSVP@whanganui.govt.nz or call 349-3039.