The Intelligent Community

As COO for economic development and marketing, Ben Pole drives the strategic and operational direction of Economic Development, Smart Digital City, Marketing and Communications, Tourism and Events, and Media staff and resources for Queensland’s fastest growing city. He leads integrated programs and performance for one of Australia’s most successful destination marketing organisations to achieve key market advantage and new market success, with a particular focus on developing industry leading digital networks, multi-channel content marketing, and systematic change management. Previously, he served as Director of Strategy, Marketing and Communications at Gold Coast Tourism Corporation.

Ben holds a Master of Business Administration from RMIT University, Master of International Relations from Griffith University and Bachelor of Communications from Griffith University.

Juha Ala-Mursula is an experienced Economic Development Director with a demonstrated history of managing large organizations engaged in change in the public sector. With skills in product lifecycle management, embedded and open-source software, innovation management and mobile technologies, he oversees economic development in one of Finland’s leading technology centers. A graduate of the University of Oulu, he holds an MBA in international business from the Helsinki School of Economics.

On June 6, Espoo was named as the 2018 Intelligent Community of the Year. Prior to the Summit, and before knowing his community would be named Intelligent Community of the Year, Mayor Jukka Mäkelä spoke with Lou Zacharilla about Espoo.

Jukka Mäkelä was born in Espoo, Finland in 1960. In 2007 Mäkelä was elected as a Member of Parliament for the National Coalition Party. Mäkelä has been the Mayor of Espoo since the start of 2011. He has been involved in the local politics of Espoo as a City Counsellor since 1997, as Chair of the City Board years 2005–2008, and as Chair of the City Council 2009–2010. He gained a degree of Master of Science in Technology from the Helsinki University of Technology.

Roberto Gallardo is Assistant Director of the Purdue Center for Regional Development and a Purdue Extension Community & Regional Economics Specialist. He holds an electronics engineering undergraduate degree, a master's in economic development, and a Ph.D. in Public Policy and Administration. Gallardo has worked with rural communities over the past decade conducting local & regional community economic development, including use of technology for development.

He has authored more than 70 articles including peer-reviewed and news-related regarding rural trends, socioeconomic analysis, industrial clusters, the digital divide, and leveraging broadband applications for community economic development. He is also the author of the book “Responsive Countryside: The Digital Age & Rural Communities”, which highlights a 21st century community development model that helps rural communities transition to, plan for, and prosper in the digital age. Dr. Gallardo is a TEDx speaker and his work has been featured in a WIRED magazine article, a MIC.com documentary, and a RFDTV documentary. He lives in West Lafayette with his wife and two daughters.

Greg excels at relationship building, facilitating strategic partnerships, coordinating industry and sector initiatives, and forging substantive collaborations between the public and private sectors. Greg has been tasked with the development of strategic partnerships and alliances between communities and business sectors and is responsible for guiding the development of economic development strategies reflective of Winnipeg’s broad and diversified economy and manages north/south trade activities related to the Mid-Continent Trade Corridor. Greg holds director positions on a variety of bi-national and tri-national business development boards including the Canadian/American Border Trade Alliance (CAN/AM BTA) and NASCO (North American Strategy for Competitiveness). Greg has a Master’s Degree in City Planning from the University of Manitoba and has his Economic Development certification through the University of Waterloo.

Mayor Fred Eisenberger was born in Amsterdam and came to Canada with his family when he was eight years old, settling in Hamilton.

Fred is currently serving his second four-year term as mayor. Previously he served as a member of Hamilton council, as chair of the Hamilton Port Authority, and as president and chief executive of the Canadian Urban Institute, where he was involved in the development of leading-edge, progressive urban policy.

During Fred’s tenure as mayor, Hamilton was named by the Conference Board of Canada for having Canada’s most-diversified economy. In 2016 the Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) named Hamilton as one of the World’s 21Smart communities, and in 2018 ICF named Hamilton one of the world’s Top7 Intelligent Communities. Hamilton’s transformation has been notable.  A national advanced manufacturing hub, with burgeoning life sciences and food processing sectors; strong education and research institutions; and creative industries that are attracting new economic investment and vitality to the city. 

Fred is focused on achieving continued growth and prosperity as well as protecting our environment. He was instrumental in landing a $1-billion Light Rail Transit initiative for Hamilton, for ensuring Syrian refugees were welcomed and settled in the city, and for putting forward a $50-million proposal to improve affordable housing and reduce poverty.  Recently he was elected Chair of Intelligent Community Form Canada.

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. 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.

ICF Director of Operations Matthew Owen sits down with ICF Co-Founder John Jung for part 3 in this special series discussing 2018's Top7 Intelligent Communities of the Year. This week, Matt and John focus on Espoo, Finland and Tainan City, Taiwan.

John Jung will be visiting these two communities as part of the process to determine the 2018 Intelligent Community of the Year. The 2018 Intelligent Community of the Year will be named on June 6 at the ICF Global Summit in London. To learn more or to register for the Summit, visit www.icfsummit.com

ICF Director of Operations Matthew Owen sits down with ICF Co-Founder Lou Zacharilla for part 2 in this special series discussing 2018's Top7 Intelligent Communities of the Year. This week, Matt and Lou focus on Ipswich, Queensland, Australia and Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

Lou Zacharilla will be visiting these two communities as part of the process to determine the 2018 Intelligent Community of the Year. The 2018 Intelligent Community of the Year will be named on June 6 at the ICF Global Summit in London. To learn more or to register for the Summit, visit www.icfsummit.com

ICF Director of Operations Matthew Owen sits down with ICF Co-Founder Robert Bell to discuss three of 2018's Top7 Intelligent Communities of the Year: Chiayi City, Taiwan; Hamilton, Ontario, Canada; and Taoyuan, Taiwan.

Robert Bell will be visiting these three communities as part of the process to determine the 2018 Intelligent Community of the Year. The 2018 Intelligent Community of the Year will be named on June 6 at the ICF Global Summit in London. To learn more or to register for the Summit, visit www.icfsummit.com