Stockholm (pictured) "methodically and substantially redefined the possibilities of urban living."

Stockholm Named 2009 Intelligent Community of Year

Stockholm, Sweden was named the Intelligent Community of the Year for 2009 by the Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) at an awards ceremony last week in New York. "This is a community that has methodically and substantially redefined the possibilities of urban living and sets an example of how technology can play a role to enhance economic and social development," said ICF Co-Founder Louis Zacharilla. The ICF Visionary of the Year award was presented to Issy-les-Moulineaux, France, Mayor Andre Santini, and ICF Founders' Awards were presented to:

• Dave Carter, head, Manchester Digital Development Agency, Manchester, UK
• Andrew Spano, county executive, Westchester County, New York, USA
• Taoyuan County, Taiwan

Kazak Web Strike Protests Government Action

Last Wednesday, a number of Web sites in Kazakhstan were blank for an hour -- and supporters boycotted the .kz domain -- to protest Parliament's new Internet law which allows the government's prosecutor to shut down Internet blogs and social media without a legal proceeding.

African Internet Conference Convenes Monday in Cairo

On Monday, the INET Africa Regional Conference will convene in Cairo. The group is expected to address regional Internet governance issues, in preparation for the UN Internet Governance Forum scheduled for Egypt this November. On the agenda Monday are Internet backbone development, IPv6, multilingualism, and more.