The Intelligent Community

In this episode of The Intelligent Community, ICF Co-Founder Lou Zacharilla speaks with Professor Jennifer Sherman of Washington State University about rural inequality, what the American Dream now looks like, social interactions and how they've changed over the past 18 months, and more.

Professor Sherman's research looks at the interactions of economic conditions, cultural norms, gender, and family outcomes, particularly in rural areas. She has a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley.

In this special edition of The Intelligent Community, co-founder John Jung reflects on his time meeting Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh.

In this series with mayors, police chiefs and other leading thinkers on the topic of policing and collaborative leadership, we ask how Intelligent Communities are responding to the issue and what advantages and best practices they might offer others. We continue our series with a discussion with two representatives from Surrey, BC, Canada: Terry Waterhouse, General Manager of Public Safety and Sean Simpson, Director of Information Technology.

For more information on Surrey, click here: https://www.intelligentcommunity.org/surrey_british_columbia

In this series with mayors, police chiefs and other leading thinkers on the topic of policing and collaborative leadership, we ask how Intelligent Communities are responding to the issue and what advantages and best practices they might offer others.

We begin with an overview of the topic through a discussion with Mayor Dan Mathieson, of Stratford, Canada, a multi-time Top7 Intelligent Community. He discusses how his award-winning community tackles the issue and uses technology to further enhance policing.

Innovation. It's a popular, misunderstood and kind of squishy term that nonetheless plays a big role in today's world. A Google search on it will earn you 1.65 billion hits.

There's a reason for that. Economist Robert Solow won the Nobel Prize more than 30 years ago for proving, for the first time, that 80% of all growth in the economy comes from the introduction or use of new technology. So, if you are engaged in creating or putting to use a new way of doing things, you have a shot at your share of 80% of growth. If you are devoted to doing the same old things, you can hope for a share of the 20%. Which would you rather have?

The biggest things in the world started small. Today, all the attention goes to the big, "superstar" cities where most technology jobs are being created. But in the digital age, "big" is no longer the requirement. The real need is for connection and skills, strategy and talent, a great quality of life in a place where people put down deep roots. A neighborhood, town or modest-size city with the right strategy and leadership can thrive and grow in ways that were impossible two decades ago. In the digital age, they can grow their economies, societies and culture in connection with the rest of the world for generations to come. Speakers offer examples of successful strategies and share their best development practices.

Speakers Include:

• Roberto Gallardo, Assistant Director, Purdue Center for Regional Development
• Mayor Allan Thompson, Caledon, Ontario, Canada
• Jim Yount, Co-Owner, Small Town Tech
• Bill Coleman, Principal, Community Technology Advisors (Moderator)

Tiit Terik has been Chairman of the Tallinn City Council since 2019, having first been elected to the Council in 2009. Previously a member of the Estonian Parliament and a City District Governor of two legislative districts, he serves as Chairman of the Board of the Association of Estonian Cities and Municipalities, Vice President of the Council of European Municipalities and Regions, and is a member of the European Committee of the Regions.

In this video, ICF Co-Founder Lou Zacharilla discusses COVID-19 and Taiwan with Ema Hsieh, Director of the ICF Institute in Taiwan. Beginning in 1989, Li Wen (Ema) Hsieh has 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, and the New Business Director of the Technology Center for Service Industries. After her retirement from ITRI in 2013, she was invited to be an advisor to the Joint Innovation Center of the Taiwan Electrical and Electronic Industry Association to assist the Taiwanese industry with expanding its sales to Latin America. In 2018, she joined the ICF Institute in Taiwan and is responsible for business development and marketing. She also has an extensive network with the smart city solution providers in Taiwan. Li Wen (Ema) Hsieh holds a Master's degree in Business Administration from Chung Hua University, Taiwan.

In this video, ICF Co-Founder Lou Zacharilla discusses COVID-19 and rural China with expert Giulio Verdini Giulio Verdini is Reader at the School of Architecture and Cities of the University of Westminster and Course Leader of the BA Designing Cities: Planning and Architecture. He has spent six years in China as Lecturer and then Associate Professor in Urban Planning and Design at Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU). Founder Co-Director of the XJTLU Research Institute of Urbanisation (2013 – 2016), he has been actively involved in research and action-research, mainly focused on urban governance and sustainable local development. In particular he has published on urban-rural linkages, urban regeneration and community involvement, urbanisation in China.

In this video, ICF Co-Founder Lou Zacharilla discusses COVID-19 with Tallinn, Estonia Head of City Office Toomas Sepp. Toomas Sepp, born in 1959 in Tartu, has worked as the administrative leader of Tallinn City Office since 1992 and has been actively involved in the process of administrative reform of local government in both in Estonia and Tallinn since then. Being graduated as a lawyer from Tartu State University, Mr Sepp started his public service career in the Ministry of Housing and Engineering of Estonia. Parallel to his present employment as a City Secretary of Tallinn, Mr Sepp has studied civil law and participated in a number of seminars on local government issues in Finland, Sweden, Denmark, U. K. and Canada. As a City Secretary Mr Sepp is the highest civil servant in Administration of Tallinn and his responsibilities cover management of Tallinn City Office and coordination of City's human resource development, IT, finance, strategic development policy and legal affairs. Mr Sepp is actively involved in local government training programmes, lecturing both at home and abroad on public administration reform and new ICT solutions incl implementing e-services in local governance.