The two cities have made the list of the Top Seven Intelligent Communities for 2011 and are in the running to be named the most intelligent community.

The list also includes Chattanooga, Tenn., Dublin, Ohio, Eindhoven, Netherlands, Issy-les-Moulineaux, France and Riverside, Calif.

The announcement was made by the Intelligent Community Forum at the Pacific Telecommunication Council conference in Hawaii on Wednesday.

According to a press release the communities "provide a model of economic and social development in the 21st Century using information and communications technology to power growth, address social challenges and preserve and promote culture."

The finalists were chosen from a list of 21 chosen in October by a team of independent academic analysts.

Stratford is described as a place where "agriculture, industry and culture meet." The forum also cites moves to modernize the economy, the addition of a satellite campus of the University of Waterloo and the use by local doctors of an e-health portal.

As it struggles to recover from a decline in the automotive industry, the forum says Windsor and the County of Essex are building a "new, more robust economy" that includes tourism and agriculture, and helping to expand broadband service to include rural areas.

Judges will now visit each city before the winner is chosen in June.

With files from The Canadian Press