The Intelligent Community

Chicago, on the shores of Lake Michigan, is a global city of 2.7 million. It is the center of America’s third largest metro economy, which produces more than US$690 billion in gross regional product. Almost one-quarter of households had earnings exceeding US$100,000 in 2016, according to the US Census. Chicago companies employ over four million people, many of them at the more than 400 major corporations that have their headquarters there. In March 2018, its unemployment rate was an enviable 5.3 percent, nearly the lowest since the government started tracking it.

In this interview, ICF Co-Founder Robert Bell speaks with Chicago Chief Technology Officer and First Deputy Commissioner, Carleton Nolan.

Abbotsford is the largest city, outside Vancouver, in the province of British Columbia and is among the most diverse in Canada. The city borders the United States to the south and is part of the Vancouver metroplex, which has gifted it with both an independent economy and participation in the economic sphere of western Canada’s gateway city.

In this interview, ICF Co-Founder Lou Zacharilla speaks with Abbotsford Mayor Henry Braun and Abbotsford Economic Development Executive Director, Wendy Dupley.

Alex Pang, Ph.D., is the author of three books, including Rest: Why You Get More Done When You Work Less and The Distraction Addiction. He has a Ph.D. in the history of science from the University of Pennsylvania. His work has appeared in Scientific American, The Atlantic Monthly, American Scholar, the Los Angeles Times, and many scholarly journals.

Melissa manages the Arts Programme at KWMC, which includes developing exhibitions, installations and artist residencies. Her work includes producing a wide range of digital, photographic and film projects, and exploring the role that the arts can play in business development, social action and regeneration.

Sébastien Gagnon, Vice President of Sales & Public Affairs at bciti is a recognized leader in the municipal world in municipal management and intergovernmental relations. He has more than 20 years of experience in intergovernmental relations, and has worked both in the public and private sectors. He has a Master’s Degree in Marketing, a Postgraduate Degree in Commerce and a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science with a concentration in International Relations.

Since joining IBM, Jean-François Barsoum has provided strategy advice to a diverse set of clients: financial institutions, higher education, professional associations, pharmaceutical companies and telecoms. He has also been invited to speak at conferences on the subjects of innovation, smarter transportation and climate change on four continents. For the past decade, Jean-François has participated in numerous conferences on water and environmental management, led IBM's ties with some related research organisations and NGOs. He helped develop some core smarter cities concepts and has deepened IBM's involvement with several North American cities as a result. He is among the few Canadians trained by Nobel Peace Prize Winner Al Gore, and regularly presents the material seen in the movie An Inconvenient Truth -- and subsequent scientific updates -- to audiences across Canada. He is on the board of the Climate Reality Project and of the Canadian Water Network, and is a member of the David Suzuki Foundation's steering committee. He is also a member of the Intelligent Transportation Experts' Committee, a forum initiated by the Quebec Association of Transportation (AQTr).

Sehl Mellouli is a professor at the department of Information Systems at Université Laval, Quebec City, Canada since June 2005. He obtained his Phd in Computer Science from Université Laval in 2005. He has an MBA in Management Information Systems from Université Laval. He is also an engineer in computer science from the Ecole Nationale des Sciences Informatiques, Tunis, Tunisia.

Danielle is CIO and Commissioner of the City of Chicago's Department of Innovation and Technology, where she is working to improve how residents interact with government by creating more responsive and accessible digital services.

Danielle brings over ten years experience in government tech, having served as the City’s CTO and leading data, digital inclusion, and other strategic initiatives. In 2016, Danielle and her team were recognized by the Chicago chapters of SIM and AITP as the Most Effective IT Team in a large company.

Prior to joining government, Danielle developed educational technology products at the McGraw-Hill Companies. She also worked in the Library and Archives field—serving educational and non-profit organizations to promote equitable access to and preservation of information resources.

Danielle holds a Master of Library and Information Science degree from the University of Maryland, College Park and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. She lives in Chicago with her husband and daughter. 

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 and 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 and the US 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. He has contributed to industry development as a former Director of the SCTE Ontario Chapter, a participant in CRTC Working Groups, and specification development efforts.  Rob holds a Bachelor of Mathematics degree from the University of Waterloo and a Bachelor of Arts degree in 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.