The Community Questionnaire and the data it generates are at the heart of ICF’s practice. They provide the real-world evidence that informs our analytics, educational programs and advisory services. We encourage you to learn from the books, reports, videos and podcasts we publish. But your real learning begins when you submit data on your community and receive feedback.

Why Your Community Should Apply for the Intelligent Community Awards

Award winners give a prominent position to their status in economic development, because winners are chosen from analysis of up to 400 communities around the world.  Status as an award-winning Intelligent Community is typically granted to less than 40 communities in any three-year period.

Unlike any similar award program, ICF deliberately includes small, midsize and large cities as well as counties and regions in its analysis, because we evaluate policies, programs and their results in a broad range of Factors, not just tech spending.  Award-winning communities range from populations of 20,000 to more than 6 million.

Communities use our questionnaire as a guide to development issues, from knowledge work and innovation to community engagement, that are vital to their future.  Completing a questionnaire reveals much about a community that you may not have known and changes how leaders think about the essential Factors that, together, create balanced, inclusive and lasting growth.

Providing You with Possibilities

A completed and scored questionnaire gives your community entry to two ICF programs:

• The Intelligent Community Awards, an international program in which we name 21 semi-finalist Smart21 Communities in February, the finalist Top7 Intelligent Communities in June and the Intelligent Community of the Year in October.  There is no charge for participation.
• Intelligent Community Assessment, which provides a custom report comparing your community to ICF’s global data set with detailed breakdowns by Factor.  This report is available for purchase on our website.  It is a helpful benchmark of global competitiveness, investment-readiness and economic potential. 

Access the ICF Community Questionnaire. It consists of yes-no and multiple-choice, as well as sections for you to provide web addresses (URLs) with more information on your community's initiatives. From gathering information to filling out the form, the questionnaire takes between one and four hours to complete. Choose the option that is best for you.

• Online questionnaire, which you can complete in intervals, save your work and return. You can also invite others in your community to complete portions of the questionnaire in which they are the experts. Go to the online questionnaire →
• Microsoft Word-based questionnaire, which you can be provided upon request. Request the questionnaire →

Take a Self-Test. Answer fewer than a dozen questions in an online questionnaire and ICF will give you a first evaluation of your readiness for more. Self-Test →