ICF Canada Speakers Bureau

SPEAKERS BUREAU

International

ICF Canada is offering communities and organizations across Canada and abroad to access qualified speakers who can discuss smart city and Intelligent community issues, share best practices and expertise with case studies of successful communities and how they met challenges head on with ingenuity and innovation, leadership and collaboration; how broadband and smart infrastructure technologies helped transform their communities; and success stories of communities with which your community can become inspired.

ICF Canada offers local, national and international speakers. Many in your area may speak for free or a modest honorarium. Others may require at a minimum travel expenses covered and some may also require a small speakers fee to cover their time away from their normal business. All of the speakers are qualified to speak about the topics that they indicate in their bios.

Storm Cunningham

Publisher and Global Speaker

For two decades, Storm Cunningham has helped public and private clients around the globe understand how to lead or support resilient prosperity in terms of the community / regional revitalization process; and how to strategically position their organization within that process. Storm is the publisher of REVITALIZATION: The Journal of Urban, Rural & Environmental Resilience, in which he covers the latest trends, tools, and techniques in urban/rural regeneration, natural resource restoration, and economic resilience worldwide.

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Storm is both available as a speaker and workshop leader for communities. His specialty is inspiring all stakeholders to effectively engage in the process of local revitalization. Everywhere one turns these days, "re" words appear. Urban regeneration. Regenerative agriculture. Regenerative economies. Coastal resilience. Fishery/reef restoration. Watershed restoration. Economic revitalization. Infrastructure renewal. Historic renovation/reuse. Ecological restoration, etc. Many consider Storm to be a major catalyst in that recent acceleration of the global “re” trend. He started writing The Restoration Economy (Berrett-Koehler, 2002) in 1996, and has been lecturing on the subject ever since. Storm has been called “the world’s thought leader on community revitalization and natural resource restoration” by George L. Ochs, Managing Director, Global Real Assets, JP Morgan. Ochs calls Cunningham’s 2008 book, reWealth (McGraw-Hill): “The secret weapon…for economic recovery at both local and global scales.” Storm's third book, coming in late 2019, is RECONOMICS: The Rise of Resilient Prosperity. From 1996 to 2002, he was Director, Strategic Initiatives at the Construction Specifications Institute, a 60+ year-old association of 14,000 architects, engineers, contractors, and manufacturers. Here are the titles of some of Storm's most recent talks and workshops: • The 6 Steps To Resilient Prosperity: Surprise! Creating a plan is NOT one of those essential steps. • All Production Requires A Process! Now, communities finally have a process for producing revitalization and resilience. • Rapid Economic Growth Without Sprawl: Repurposing, renewing & reconnecting your assets to revitalize everything. • Creating Confidence In The Local Future: How to attract long-term public & private investment to renew everything. • Renewal Rules: What corporate restructuring efforts should learn from urban revitalization and ecological restoration. • Cooking Up Renewal: Most communities have all the ingredients of revitalization, but lack the recipe. Travel Requirements: Travel Expenses to be covered Speaker’s Fee: amount to be arranged ICF Canada Administration Fee

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Mark Wilson

Waterfront Toronto - Past Chair - Digital Strategy Advisory Panel

Mark Wilson was the Chair of Waterfront Toronto for 10 years as it developed award winning projects across Toronto’s Waterfront and it led Toronto’s team to the Intelligent Community of the Year award in 2014. He continues to serve as a member of Waterfront Toronto’s Digital Strategy Advisory Panel which is supporting Waterfront Toronto in its work with Sidewalk Labs on the groundbreaking Quayside project. 

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For 30+ years Mr. Wilson has been active as a volunteer and board member in the community and the public sector. He was appointed to the Board of Waterfront Toronto in 2001, elected as Chair in 2006 and served as Chair until 2016. Under his leadership Waterfront Toronto developed and implemented, in collaboration with the 3 orders of government, the community and the private sector, award winning plans for East Bayfront, West Don Lands, the Central Waterfront, Lower Don Lands, Mimico and Port.

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Todd Latham

President & COO Actual Media Inc.

Todd is a business media leader, idea generator, owner, cleantech investor and a front-line communicator with an extensive network in the global business of environment, water and infrastructure.  While not an ‘expert’ in the science, technology or policy within these sectors, his 30 years experience working directly in the industry has allowed him to absorb broad practical knowledge of those subjects and formulate intelligent points of view.

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Todd has spoken publicly and written dozens of opinion pieces on such topics as raising the price of gasoline, changing the Constitution, innovating through competition, the stupidity plaguing government and the utter uselessness of the word ‘sustainable’. His self-deprecating humour and engaging ‘what me worry’ attitude can bring a breath of fresh air to you next meeting – or cause an argument. Todd is a media entrepreneur with twenty-nine years experience in business management, marketing and communications. He is President of Actual Media Inc. a specialized publishing and creative design agency that produces ReNew Canada – the infrastructure magazine and Water Canada - the complete water magazine. Todd is an cross-industry participant, advisor and communicator with broad practical knowledge and an extensive network in the environment, infrastructure and government sectors. He is also President of Blue Events Inc. (organizer of the Canadian Water Summit series) and is on the Board of Directors of the Ontario Public Works Association (OPWA), the Canadian Network of Asset Managers (CNAM) and the Ontario Coalition for Sustainable Infrastructure (OCSI). He is co-founder of the Canadian Brownfields Network, a senior associate of the Canadian Urban Institute and member of the University of Toronto Environmental Finance Committee. He is co-Chair of the Magazines Canada B2B Advisory Committee and a vocal supporter of independent business media across Canada. Todd is also an active investor in various Canadian cleantech startup companies and a proud 2011 IAE alumnus of 2041 - an international group founded by Robert Swan which is committed the promotion of renewable energy and the preservation of the Antarctic continent. Travel Requirements: Travel Expenses to be covered Speaker’s Fee: amount to be arranged ICF Canada Administration Fee

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Tom Keenan

Professor and Best Selling Author

Tom Keenan is an award-winning University of Calgary professor, public speaker and technology journalist.  He served on the Government of Canada’s Blue Ribbon Panel on Smart Communities, and  has testified before Parliamentary committees and as an expert witness. 

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His best-selling book, Technocreep: The Surrender of Privacy and the Capitalization of Intimacy predicted how technology will make our lives both better and creepier. Tom has spoken on six continents and enjoys helping people understand the real story behind that new smart light bulb, high tech doorbell or fitness monitor.

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Campbell Patterson

Founding Partner, CP Communications

Campbell Patterson, founding partner of CP Communications (CPC), is presently the chair of the Technical Committee for ICF-Canada.   The ICF-Canada Technical Committee authored a position paper, titled, “Broadband: the essential utility,” which was submitted to the CRTC in conjunction with CRTC Decision 2016-496 which declared access to broadband Internet to be a basic universal service.

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For the past fifteen years CPC, has been actively engaged helping regions, counties, municipalities, and user-based consortiums in Canada evaluate broadband networking opportunities, apply for funding assistance, researching, and writing business cases, crafting business plans; and designing, procuring, building, deploying, and project managing community broadband networking operations.

Clients have included the City of Kingston where Campbell co-authored the ICF application that lead to an ICF Top7 designation in 2014. CPC is currently engaged by Smart21 2017 contender the City of Pickering on a “Connecting To Innovate” (CTI) funding application to the federal government. CPC is the consultancy that developed the feasibility study, business case, funding application is currently project managing the procurement and construction of the SWIFT network, a $300 million government funded project to connect everyone in Southwestern Ontario to fibre optics. SWIFT network territory includes ICF TOP7 communities Stratford and Windsor as well as Intelligent Community of Year, Waterloo Region in 2007. CPC is working with the City of Niagara Falls and City of Ottawa (Smart21 2017, Top7 2010) to develop an Intelligent Community Plan and with Niagara Region to make a CTI funding application.

As a member of ICF Canada’s Speaker’s Bureau, Campbell can speak knowledgably about:

  • Building an intelligent community plan
  • Developing a broadband strategy
  • Broadband as an essential utility
  • How to write a successful ICF application
  • How to apply for funding of broadband infrastructure

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    John Jung

    Executive Director, ICF Canada

    Speaker on: Intelligent Communities, Smart Cities, Economic Development, FDI (Foreign Direct Investment), Urban Design, Urban Planning, Internet of Things, Intelligent Transportation Systems

    Chairman and Co-Founder of the Intelligent Community Forum, John is a professional, award-winning urban planner, urban designer, economic developer, author and global speaker on planning, development, urban design and economic development related issues, especially related to Intelligent Communities.

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    Former President and CEO of several of Canada’s largest economic development organizations, John is also a former urban planner and developer in many cities and advisor on urban development and economic development to global leaders around the world for over the past three decades. John’s extensive global exposure leading hundreds of international delegations, writing and delivering keynote addresses globally on behalf of ICF have helped to raise awareness of the Intelligent Community movement.

    Travel Requirements:
    Travel Expenses to be covered (except in Greater Toronto Area)
    Speaker’s Fees: Contribution to ICF or ICF Canada (amount to be arranged)
    ICF Canada Administration Fee

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    Rob McCann

    President, Clearcable Networks

    Rob McCann is the founder and President of Clearcable Networks. He has been working with advanced broadband service deployments in mid-market and rural cable and telephone systems since 1998. He is responsible for building and maintaining technical, network, and application intelligence. Rob works closely with several carriers, cable systems, municipalities, and network service providers in Canada, the US, and the Caribbean providing them with the technology, integration, and business practices required to effectively operate voice, video, and data services in the changing broadband service provider industry.

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    Most recently Rob represents Clearcable as an inaugural board member of The Intelligent Community Forum Canada and previously has served as a Director with the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers Ontario Chapter, a contributor to the CRTC Interconnection Steering Committee, and a frequent keynote speaker at the Canadian Cable System Alliance, Canadian Independent Telephone Association, and National Cable Telephone Cooperative annual trade shows. He was named the Canadian Independent Telephone Associations 2016 Supplier of the Year and holds degrees in Mathematics degree from the University of Waterloo and a Economics from McMaster University.

    By combining his practical experience in both traditional information technology and service provider networks with his formal background, Rob provides a unique perspective on matching emerging technology with sound business principles to establish successful strategies for new product and service deployment. Rob has lead the Clearcable since 2004, named three times as one of Canada’s Fastest Growing Companies by PROFIT Magazine, as a team that prides itself on providing expert help to enable appropriate technology and services for advanced communications by augmenting the existing or building the internal engineering support for its client base. With proven experience and relevant industry references, Clearcable understands the unique requirements of a truly connected life and building better broadband for communities of all sizes.

    Rob is attending the ICF Canada Business Mission to Taiwan and the Top7 Announcement to support the outstanding efforts of the Smart21 Communities of 2017 on their way toward the Top7, to exchange and learn about the truly global efforts found in Taiwan, to celebrate the success and contributions of Taiwan to the ICF mission, and to meet potential suppliers and partners who can support our efforts in North America.

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    Brenda Halloran

    CEO, Brenda Halloran Inc

    Brenda Halloran is known as a global leader with a local conscience.  Often referred to as the people’s Mayor, Halloran held the top job as the Mayor of the City of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada from 2006 – 2014.  Responsible for leading the City through one of the most dynamic and innovative periods in its history, Halloran’s global profile took root when the City of Waterloo won the most “Intelligent Community Award” in 2007 from the Intelligent Community Forum and IBM’s Smarter City Challenge in 2012.

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    Halloran was the Chair of the Alumni of Intelligent Communities with ICF from 2010-2012 and has been active in promoting ICF globally. As Mayor, Halloran was responsible for signing friendship agreements between Eindhoven, The Netherlands and Taipei, Taiwan, as well as Chongqing and Xi’an, China. Halloran believes in the importance of global outreach, innovation, collaboration and how smart cities and intelligent communities are critical to the future of global growth and economic prosperity. She has years of experience presenting at international forums and conferences on the importance of smart city growth and the development of intelligent communities. She is the Chair of the Board of Startup Canada, President of the Trillium Innovation Venture Group, and the CEO of her own corporation. She is involved in the local technology sector, mentors and coaches startups and entrepreneurs and is an advisor on smart city growth. She is a known connector. Halloran has received numerous awards; her most recent one was the StartUp Canada Lifetime Achievement Award. She is connected locally, nationally and globally to political and business leaders throughout the world. She is a strong supporter of innovation and technology and building successful opportunities internationally.

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    David Hicks

    Pensario Communications

    David Hicks is a freelance writer, branding consultant and researcher-writer-editor. He was the point-person for Stratford Ontario’s six consecutive Smart21 and Top7 designations, editor for Kingston’s successful Top7 submission, and co-wrote smart city / Intelligent Community plans for New Westminster BC and West Parry Sound ON. He also created Stratford’s campaign branding, signage, social media and blog content, presentations and briefs, and agendas for ICF founder site visits. He has presented at various public and municipal forums, town halls and service organization meetings.

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    Harout Chitilian

    Montreal City Councillor

    Harout Chitilian was elected city councillor, for the district of Bordeaux-Cartierville in the borough of Ahuntsic-Cartierville, in November 2013, for a second consecutive mandate. He is the vice chairman of the Executive Committee of the City of Montreal, and is responsible for administrative reforms, youth programs, digital and smart city strategy and information technology. He is a member of the Executive Committee and of the Environment Committee of the Montreal metropolitan community. During his previous mandate, he held an associate position in the Montreal Executive Committee for files pertaining youth and economic development. In 2011 until November 2013, Harout Chitilian was appointed president of the Montreal Municipal Council where he also presided as Chair for the council chairmanship.

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    In 2011, he was chosen as one of the most prominent young municipal politicians of his generation by the magazine l’Actualité. In spring 2013, he participated in a “Personality of the Year” program in Paris following an invitation from the French Foreign Affairs Department. Finally, he received the award for rising star of the year among young city councillors from the Union des municipalités du Québec. Harout Chitilian received his engineering degree, in 2004, from École Polytechnique de Montreal. Mr. Chitilian represented Montreal during the year that Montreal was the selected as 2017 ICF Intelligent Community of the Year. He can also provide in both English and French, a testimonial about Montreal’s journey to become the Intelligent Community of the Year and what made Montreal the global pick that year from its le Quartier de l'innovation de Montréal to Montreal’s use of technology to promote its cultural and heritage applications.

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    Franco Amalfi

    Director, Strategic Government Programs for Oracle Public Sector North America

    Franco Amalfi is Director, Strategic Government Programs for Oracle Public Sector North America.  In this capacity, Franco leads a team of experts responsible for the go to market strategy for healthcare, academic research, revenue management, digital government, intelligent cities and artificial intelligence.  Franco and his team guide government officials at every level – U.S. federal, U.S. state & local, and in Canada – to effectively use modern cloud based technologies to help cities and other government agencies deliver on their mission.

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    In addition to working with customers, Franco authors, publishes white papers and articles on leveraging technology to drive business value for governments. He is also a frequent speaker at government conferences. Franco can cover discussions on citizen engagement, mobility, artificial intelligence, digital government and IoT. He is a graduate of McGill University in Montreal and has completed executive studies at MIT Sloan School of Management in Cambridge.

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    Chris Gould

    VP, Bluewater Power Distribution Corporation

    Chris Gould is the Chief Operating Officer of Bluewater Regional Networks and the Vice President of Utility Development for Bluewater Power Distribution Corporation. Chris has been in the electrical field for fifteen years. After a period of time in construction he spent four years managing the Electrical Distribution infrastructure for one of Sarnia’s refineries before joining Bluewater Power. As a result of his experience in several fields, Chris was appointed to the Chair position of the Intelligent Sarnia-Lambton Task Force in 2017. The task force consists of members from the public and private sectors as well as academic institutions and is responsible for all local outreach campaigns as well as Sarnia Lambton’s global intelligent community outreach leading local ICF delegations

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    Chris began his career at Bluewater Power as the Vice President of Operations where he provided leadership and strategic direction to the Operations department. Responsibility for several lines of business within the utility led him to his new role of Vice President of Utility Development in 2016. In this position, he plays a pivotal role in LDC Smart Grid initiatives including deployment of digital information, control technology, and real-time automated, interactive technologies that help to improve the reliability of the electrical grid. Chris’ involvement in EV Charging Station deployment, Grid Scale Energy Storage and Residential Energy Storage within Bluewater Power Distribution Corporation’s service territory has contributed to a green image as well as helped to stimulate economic development in the Sarnia-Lambton area. Chris was originally appointed the VP of Bluewater Power’s newest affiliate, Bluewater Regional Networks (BRN) in 2016 and was recently promoted to COO. BRN was formed to create a locally controlled, carrier-grade high speed fibre network services company that provides reliable, affordable and customer focused services in the Sarnia-Lambton area. Bluewater Regional Network’s vision is to be viewed as the network experts and consulting resource of choice for large enterprise partners and most trusted source of connectivity for discerning SME customers. Providing high reliability, low latency fibre optic network service with best-in-class response and MTTR. The result is stimulating economic development, and attraction and retention of business and talent.

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    Agustín Argelich

    Principal Consultant, Argelich Networks

    Agustin Argelich is a telecom engineer, and graduate of Ramon Llull University (Barcelona), and a professor at Lleida University.   He is an author and principal consultant of Argelich Networks, an independent digital technology (Information and communications technologies) and management consultancy in Barcelona. He was one of the youngest project leaders as Technological Director of the IX Paralympic Games at the Barcelona’92 Olympic Games.

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    For 30 years he has been leading significant digital technology projects for business and for public organizations. He represents the Intelligent Community Forum in Spain and is member of the international jury. He is a recognized international speaker in ICT technology, innovation, change management and leadership. Agustin can present in either Spanish or English.

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    Ema Hsieh

    Director of Marketing at the ICF Institute Taiwan

    Ema Hsieh is the Director of Marketing and Promotion Division at the Intelligent Community (ICF) Institute in Taiwan. Formerly Ema worked for the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI); one of Taiwan’s most important research organizations. She held several significant positions during her career here, including: Head of PR, Project Manager in Latin America, Co-Leader of the Energy Saving Service Team and Director for the New Business Division of the Technology Center for Service Industries.

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    Ema is an experienced Project Manager in industrial technology research and has a Master’s Degree in Business Administration and Management from Chung Hua University, in Taiwan. She was also an advisor to the Joint Innovation Center of the Taiwan Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers’ Association (JIC of TEEMA) to assist the Taiwanese industry with expanding its sales to Latin America. Ema’s experience includes business development, coalition development, international relations and public relations and she has been involved with the smart city and Intelligent Community movement in Taiwan for many years and can speak about most cities in Taiwan from that perspective. She also has an extensive network with the smart city solution providers in Taiwan. Current active projects include international partnership development, consulting to build smart city, training program and promoting best practice solutions from Taiwan. She is fluent in English, Spanish and Mandarin.

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    Michael Kolm

    Chief Transformation Officer at the City of Toronto

    Michael Kolm is the City of Toronto’s first-ever Chief Transformation Officer. A seasoned executive with extensive experience in business transformation, Michael provides strategic leadership to help the City become more effective and efficient in its delivery of public services, now and in the future, while delivering maximum value for public dollars. With a long and successful background in consulting with powerhouse firms such as EY and PwC, Michael worked with private and public sector clients to plan for and realize the benefits of implementing business transformation.

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    Leading the City's Transformation Office, Michael works closely with internal and external leaders, partners and stakeholders to lead transformational projects that will ultimately drive social, environmental and economic benefits for all those who live, work and play in Toronto.

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    Dan Mathieson

    Mayor of Stratford

    Dan Mathieson Mayor of Stratford Ontario, is in his fourth term as Mayor and has sat on municipal council since 1995. He is currently Chair of the Ontario Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC), Chair of Kings University College at Western University, Chair of the Stratford Police Services Board, a member of the Board of Directors of Festival Hydro and Rhyzome Networks, the Stratford Festival, and the Advisory Board of the University of Waterloo-Stratford Campus.  Dan is also on the Advisory Board for the Institute for the Study of the Intelligent Community.

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    In November 2015 Dan was awarded the Alumni Award of Excellence from the Master of Public Administration, Local Government program at Western University. He is also the 2016 Western University, Public Administration Distinguished Practitioner in Residence, lecturing on governance and innovation in public institutions. In 2012, Dan received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, paying tribute to community leaders whose endeavours have set them apart as technology innovators. As well, Dan received the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal in 2002 for public service. He holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of Guelph and a Master of Public Administration Degree from the University of Western Ontario. Dan can speak about Stratford as a Smart21 City and as a multiple TOP7 Intelligent Community.

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    Carl Viel

    President & CEO of Québec International

    Carl Viel is President & CEO of Québec International, which is the economic development agency in the Québec City’s region. The agency contributes to the economic development in the Quebec City metropolitan region and enhances its international status. It fosters business growth and development, supports key clusters and attracts talent and investment to the region.

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    Carl can speak to his experiences promote the competitive environment of the Quebec City area globally as his organization works to attract foreign investments and qualified foreign workers to his community. He also supports trade and foreign market development and fosters innovation and hi-tech entrepreneurship as his organization helps to develop and promote the region’s key clusters.

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    Wendy Dupley

    Executive Director of the City of Abbotsford Economic Development

    Wendy Dupley is the Executive Director of the City of Abbotsford Economic Development and is a strategic, visionary and creative leader with global experience in both private and public sector environments. Talented in building strong partnerships and working collaboratively with a wide range of domestic and international stakeholders, Wendy’s specialty areas include identifying key domestic and international economic indicators, as well as workforce strategies to support business development.

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    Wendy has completed business development assignments in Europe, the UK, the USA, Australia, Asia, South America and Central America. Wendy holds an impeccable track record of a more consensus building approach to achieving business goals.

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    Louis Zacharilla

    Co-Founder Intelligent Community Forum

    Louis Zacharilla helped found the Intelligent Community movement. He is the developer of the Top7 and Intelligent Community of the Year Awards programs and guides the strategy for the New York-based think tank’s programs. Mr. Zacharilla oversees the development of institutes for the Intelligent Community Forum. He is a frequent keynote speaker and a moderator at global conferences and events. He appears regularly in the media to discuss what ICF calls “the new Renaissance” within the world’s communities.

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    Mr. Zacharilla is co-author of the books Brain Gain, Broadband Economies: Building the Community for the 21st Century and Seizing Our Destiny. His articles, opinion pieces and blogs appear in publications worldwide, including Canada, Sweden, the United States, and Australia. His work was the subject of a multi-part series in Taiwan's Ideas Magazine and his views were quoted in the influential 2012 World Wealth Report. He has been the subject of interview for in the Financial Times of London and VICE.com. He authors a blog, "Community as Canvas," and is regular contributor to Satellite Executive Briefing, Digital Communities, Mayors & Cities and Public Sector Digest. Mr. Zacharilla has served as an adjunct professor at New York's Fordham University,a a guest lecturer at New York University's Polytechnic Institute's School of Innovation Technology & Enterprise, Laval University (Quebec City) and the Central European University (Budapest.) He was named a judge for the French-based World E-Democracy Awards program, is a member of the Australian-American Dialogue Council, a trustee of the Board of Directors of Walsh University (USA) and recently a member of the board of directors of the METRO New York Library Council. He was born in Lyons, New York, earned his Masters degree from the University of Notre Dame and lives in Manhattan.

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    Robert Bell

    Co-Founder Intelligent Community Forum

    Robert Bell is co-founder of the Intelligent Community Forum, where he heads its research, analysis and content development activities. He directs the multi-stage analysis of communities for the annual Intelligent Community Awards program and authors the in-depth profiles of the Smart21 and Top7 Intelligent Communities that are core to ICF’s mission.

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    Serving as the content lead for ICF's annual Summit in New York City, Robert is the author of ICF's founding study, Benchmarking the Intelligent Community. He has contributed articles to The Municipal Journal of Telecommunications Policy, IEDC Journal, Telecommunications, Asia-Pacific Satellite and Asian Communications; and has appeared in segments of ABC World News and The Discovery Channel. A frequent keynote speaker and moderator at municipal and telecom industry events, he has also led economic development missions and study tours to cities in Asia and the US.

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    Dr. Norm Jacknis

    Senior Fellow at the Intelligent Community Forum

    Dr. Norman Jacknis is currently Senior Fellow at the Intelligent Community Forum. His responsibilities include leading ICF’s Rural Imperative, building on the ideas he developed for the US Conference of Mayors on a future-oriented economic growth strategy for cities. Before joining ICF, he was Director, Cisco’s IBSG Public Sector Group (the company’s open innovation and pro-bono strategic advisory group), where he worked extensively with states and local government, the National Association of Counties, the US Conference of Mayors and the staff responsible for the Federal government’s website and citizen engagement.

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    In addition to citizen engagement, his focus was on economic growth, innovation, and the future of technology. Before Cisco, he was technology commissioner for Westchester County, New York, when it was one of ICF’s Top 7. In addition to his regular Looking Forward blog for elected government executives and earlier articles, Dr. Jacknis has recently written articles and book chapters on “Beyond Smarter City Infrastructure – The New Urban Experience”, “A New Kind of Public Square For Urban America, “Government’s Role In Facilitating An Innovative Economy” and “Transformation of the Local Government CTO/CIO”. He has been a frequent speaker at state/local government and technology industry events, in North America, Latin America, Europe, China, Korea and Australia. He led frequent economic partnership missions to China starting in 1998. He received his Doctorate, Master's and Bachelor's degrees from Princeton University. Among several leadership positions in the technology, education and library communities, he is President of the New York Metropolitan Library Council.

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    Lucy Casacia

    Smart Cities Consultant

    As an established leader in the Smart Cities and infrastructure area, Lucy Casacia acts as a catalyst and driver for using technology to create smart buildings, transportation, resiliency and energy systems. She is passionate about the strategic use of Urban Technologies to create better outcomes for people, the planet and our new generation of leaders.

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    Through her work with Fortune 100 (WSP, Siemens, Dofasco Steel, BHP Billiton Diamonds) and entrepreneurial companies, Lucy commits to sharing best practices, creating awareness and developing strategies to use data to improve our quality of life through modeling, virtual reality and future forward scenario building. Recently, she supported CO2 reduction strategies for the GTAA, and City of Mississauga. Lucy is a well known speaker in the realm of smart infrastructure solutions, CO2 mitigation strategies, resiliency and future ready critical infrastructure. She works nationally and partners with global teams based in London, UK and the USA. She is a mentor and coach active with IEEE, Women in Leadership and is a graduate of McMaster University (B.Sc. Metallurgy and Materials Science) and the Schulich School of Business (York University Strategic Leadership Masters Certification).

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    Matthew Schultz

    National President of the Australian Smart Communities Association

    Matthew Schultz is internationally recognized as a Smart City expert and Digital and Data Transformation practitioner from Ipswich, Queensland, Australia. Matthew is the National President of the Australian Smart Communities Association, a rapidly growing Australian peak industry association for Smart Community, Broadband and Digital Economic Development with members across Australia and New Zealand. He is also an inaugural Board Director of Open Data Australia, a member of Open and Agile Smart Cities Australia, Standards Australia IT­042 Internet of Things Standards Development Committee and Standards Australia Smart City Standards Development Committee.

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    He has extensive experience and leadership expertise in telecommunications connectivity, city data, internet of things and spatial visualization and analysis of data. He is an accomplished and experienced executive with over 24 years of experience, including expertise and expert knowledge in the Information Technology, Telecommunications, Digital Economic Development, Geospatial and Civil Engineering fields covering leadership, management, consulting, and technical roles. In recent years Matthew led the establishment of the award-winning Fire Station 101 (www.firestation101.com.au), the 1st fully funded local government Innovation and Startup Hub in Australia and currently oversees the award winning Ipswich Smart City Blueprint and Implementation Plan, which seeks to entrench Ipswich as Australia’s most progressive Smart and Connected City. In addition, Matthew has also positioned Ipswich City as a Top 7 worldwide Intelligent Community for 2015, 2017 and 2018.

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    Joe Berridge

    FCIP, RPP Partner, Urban Strategies

    Joe has played a key role in some of the largest and most complex urban regeneration projects in Canada, the U.S. the U.K., Europe and Asia. His extensive planning for the Toronto airport, waterfront and the growth management and transportation plans for the Toronto region continue to help shape the future of that city.

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    Joe has recently advised on the planning of the next phase of Sydney Harbour and is preparing a master plan for Cardiff Bay and City Centre. He has played a major role in the regeneration of Manchester, first as strategic advisor to the reconstruction after the 1996 city centre bombing and more recently by preparing a regeneration plan for Hulme, an extensive public housing project, and other decayed inner city districts. He is the master planner of Manchester Airport City and the Manchester City Etihad Campus. He has master-planned several European large-scale developments, including the waterfront of Cork, Ireland and Belfast’s city centre, as well as several London docklands developments. His extensive experience is covered aptly in his new book Perfect City, recently published by Sutherland House.

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    Jean-Marc La Flamme

    Smart Cities Designer

    Jean-Marc is a senior technology professional who has worked for National Smart Cities and Housing Innovation Teams and is now building regenerative communities with affordable housing at its core. A career of disrupting industries, scaling startups, supporting non-profits, working with government and rural communities. Founder of mass manufactured micro and modular housing with off-grid living infrastructure, leading innovation centres using digital engagement platforms allowing all residents to co-create communities and new social enterprise. He is the Managing Director of ReGen Villages building resilient smart communities, with integrated life support systems of food, water, energy, education, economic, transportation and waste-to-resource management. Communities are connected to each other with a secure but open smart cities platform for real time innovation inside bioregions.

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    Originally from Toronto and the past decade in rural mountain paradise of British Columbia, he has pioneered technology companies for over 25 years. As a "Webmaster" building first generation Government of Canada websites in the 90's and the next decade managing web teams with major corporations, by 2010s shifted into the startup scene focusing on disruption in Smart Cities, Travel/Transportation and Financial Technologies. A Director at Crowd Capital - the first successful equity crowdfunding company in North America.

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    Doug McCollough

    CIO of Dublin Ohio

    Doug McCollough is the Chief Information Officer of the City of Dublin, a suburb of 50,000 on the Northwest corner of Columbus, Ohio. As a champion of the Dublink Fiber Optic system, a 125 mile fiber conduit system that stretches around Central Ohio, supporter of the 33 Smart Mobility Corridor that introduced and leads Connected and Autonomous Vehicle research and testing in Ohio, and steward of the kinds of innovations that have allowed Dublin to be a six time winner of either Smart21 or Top7 status, he is a subject matter expert on the application of technologies to communities in pursuit of non-technical benefits. A veteran of public sector innovation ranging from four State agencies to two municipalities, Doug speaks on Smart Cities, Intelligent Communities, and Digital technology from both direct experience and best theoretical practice.

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    In addition to being a member of the Global Institute for the Study of the Intelligent Community in Dublin Ohio USA (ICF Institute Dublin Ohio), Doug serves as a thought leader for the region and State on topics ranging from Broadband to Blockchain. As a vocal champion of broadband access, he has also emerged as a voice for Digital Inclusion, Access, and Equity wherever gaps exist. As CIO of a municipality Doug has driven innovation projects that push the limits of traditional organizations, policies and government models. Examples include the implementation of the Dublink 100 gig Transport Network, which invigorated a legacy office park, the introduction of the Dublin Digital Identity Authority, which created a new resident identity deployed on Distributed Ledger Technology, and shepherding of a Data Privacy toolkit for local governments. He has also built a reputation for promoting a region-wide, diverse, technical workforce in pursuit of economic development results. As a co-founder of Black Tech Columbus (@blacktech614) and champion of Women and Minorities working in technology, Doug convincingly makes the case for promoting a robust, diverse knowledge workforce to accomplish both intelligent community goals and economic development gains. Doug has spoken at multiple ICF conferences and meetings, as well as at conferences related to broadband, blockchain, Smart Mobility, Connected and Autonomous Vehicles, Diversity & Inclusion in Technology, and Smart Cities.

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    Kristina Verner

    Vice President, Innovation, Sustainability and Prosperity Waterfront Toronto

    Kristina Verner is the Vice President, Innovation, Sustainability and Prosperity, responsible for a variety of strategic initiatives for Waterfront Toronto. Kristina is a core member engaged on the Sidewalk Toronto Project, a joint effort between Waterfront Toronto and Alphabet’s Sidewalk Labs.

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    In 2013 and 2014, under her stewardship, Waterfront Toronto led the bid to have the City of Toronto recognized in both the Smart21 and Top 7 communities in the world by the Intelligent Community Forum (ICF). In 2014, Toronto was selected as the Intelligent Community of the Year. She is active both nationally and internationally in the smart city movement and serves Board of Directors for the ICF Foundation and ICF Canada. Previously, Kristina led various aspects of the Connecting Windsor-Essex Smart Community, securing significant funding to support region’s smart city efforts and led the bid that resulted in Windsor-Essex being recognized as one of Top 7 communities in the world by the ICF.

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    More speakers to come!