By Robert Bell, ICF Co-Founder Limited Access to Jobs and Economic Opportunity It has become almost impossible to apply for a job today without internet access at reasonable speeds. Once in a job, employees in all walks of life are expected to have computer and online skills; the barista at the coffee shop must keep the Wi-Fi operating, and the…
By Glenn Miller, Iain Dobson, and Stephen Johnson, SRRA The challenge of imagining the future of cities in a post-pandemic world has been taken up by a wide range of opinion leaders, policy makers and urban practitioners, ranging from urban planners and architects to real estate professionals, economists, and institutional lenders. Thoughtful commentaries by Adam Gopnik in the New Yorker…
No Place BUT Home: Part 5 by: Louis Zacharilla, ICF Co-Founder Since COVID came to town, I notice things when I wake up in the morning with an intensity and a clarity that wasn’t there weeks ago. When I look outside of my window, the “worldly dust,” as the Dali Lama once called it, has vanished. I see with terrible…
By John G. Jung, ICF Chairman and Co-Founder At the beginning of the New Year in 2020 we were looking at the threat of war rising out of the rhetoric coming out of Washington and from Tehran. I had a flight planned to travel to Kuwait in January to give a keynote address as part of the Kuwait Public Policy…
In this episode of The Intelligent Community, ICF Co-Founder Louis Zacharilla speaks with author and award-winning journalist with NPR and PBS, Celeste Headlee. Listen now: https://www.intelligentcommunity.org/conversation_collaboration_a_real_talk_with_npr_s_celeste_headlee Celeste Headlee is an award-winning journalist who has appeared on NPR, PBS World, PRI, CNN, BBC and other international networks. She was formerly a host at National Public Radio, anchoring shows including Tell Me…
by Louis Zacharilla, ICF Co-Founder Image By Kera Till (keratill.com) No Place BUT Home - “Part 1: Socially Distanced but Spiritually Connected” So much for the death of distance. Now it’s “keep your distance or get sick and maybe die.” Social distancing, a new word and the emotional equivalent of a prison sentence for the innocent, descended on us like…
In these extraordinary times, the Canadian Urban Institute (CUI) recognizes the importance of local leadership needed for on-the-ground action to this pandemic. According to Mary Rowe, President and CEO of CUI, it has launched two online platforms that provide information in real-time about local government action and amplifies on-the-ground community approaches. The first platform is called “CityWatch Canada” which…
ICF Announces the Top7 Intelligent Communities of 2020 On February 10 in Taoyuan, Taiwan, ICF announced the Top7 Intelligent Communities of 2020. In alphabetical order, the Top7 communities are: · Adelaide, South Australia, Australia · Hamilton, Ontario, Canada · Hudson, Ohio, USA · Markham, Ontario, Canada · Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia · Tallinn, Estonia · Westerville, Ohio, USA ICF Chairman…
Congratulations to Markham and Hamilton, Ontario for their 2020 win as ICF’s TOP7 Intelligent Communities. SMART21 communities from across Canada this year also included Newmarket, Fredericton and Winnipeg. This is Hamilton’s second TOP7 win. The other was in 2018. You can read more about Hamilton in: https://www.intelligentcommunity.org/hamilton_ontario . This is Markham’s first SMART21 and TOP7 win, all in one year.…
Ethical Smart City Exhibit wins DesignTO Award As reported in last month’s newsletter, students at George Brown College’s Institute without Boundaries (IwB) launched a new exhibit called #PlayroomTO – an interactive exhibit that invited people to expand their thinking about values, ethics and the future in a smart city such as Toronto. It was recently awarded DesignTO’s Juror's Choice for…