The ICF Dublin Institute’s May 4 workshop welcomed more than 40 attendees who were able to hear an inspiring keynote presentation from Roberto Gallardo, Executive Director of the MSU Intelligent Community Institute.

In Mississippi, Dr. Gallardo is on a mission to close this digital divide, one citizen, one neighborhood, one business, one community at a time. Dr. Gallardo discussed with Institute members the steps he has taken and the community development model he uses to move the dial toward a more connected and intelligent Mississippi.

An Intelligent Community Institute™ is a local research and development institution established in partnership with ICF by universities, local governments and other organizations to accelerate the Intelligent Community® movement at the regional and national level. They promote the use of broadband and information technology for economic development. Digital connectivity and services have transformed our economy and will continue do so for decades of this Digital Century, and economic development practices need to keep pace with change. 

Each Intelligent Community Institute™ teaches the Community Accelerator Strategy while also supporting a specific mission of the community or institution that is home to the Institute. That mission may focus on education or accessibility, agriculture or alternative energy, the creation of technology clusters or the reduction of poverty. Whatever the mission, the Institute creates new capabilities for the global movement while addressing regional or national priorities.

Intelligent Community Institute in Dublin, Ohio, USA

Intelligent Community Institute in Hsinchu, Taiwan

Intelligent Community Institute Canada (Atlantic) in Fredericton, New Brunswick

Future Institutes

If you wish to explore formation of an Intelligent Community Institute™, request an Expression of Interest template from co-founder Louis Zacharilla.

The Dublin Intelligent Community Institute™ was established in partnership with the Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) to expand the Midwest’s knowledge about the creation of Intelligent Communities. Through the Institute and our membership, we seek to expand understanding of successful community development in this Digital Century - when broadband and information technology have become fundamental economic development issues - and to equip local leaders with tools to build stronger communities.

The Institute is currently one of several organizations licensed through ICF. Each Institute focuses on educating and assisting communities in becoming proficient in the Accelerator Strategy factors – connectivity, knowledge work, innovation, engagement, inclusion and sustainability.

Click here to visit the Institute's website.

Mission

The Dublin Intelligent Community Institute is a collaborative network of rural, suburban and urban community leaders and organizations focused on building Intelligent Communities. Through outreach to other Ohio communities and a series of workshops in Dublin, the Institute trains leaders in strategies for using broadband and information technology to drive economic, social and cultural development. The Institute is promoting a vision of Intelligent Ohio: a network of cities and counties using the Community Accelerator Strategy to drive their economic, social and cultural development in the Digital Century.  By leveraging the knowledge and success of the membership, the Institute serves as facilitator, convener and subject matter expert to:

• Expand awareness
• Provide resources
• Exchange information & ideas
• Connect communities & organizations
• Conduct research

Accomplishments

Since its founding, the Dublin Intelligent Community Institute has –

• Sent teams to multiple cities in central Ohio to brief on the Community Accelerator Strategy and its impact. Sharing Dublin’s experience, the Institute has encouraged other communities to engage with the Intelligent Community movement, and these efforts have helped give Ohio the third-largest concentration of Intelligent Communities in the world.
• Maintained a schedule of workshops bringing together city managers, economic development officers, CIOs and smart city officials from Ohio and the broader Midwest for education and networking. See Institute News below.
• In collaboration with ICF, developed a new category for the movement: the Intelligent State. A document published by ICF in 2022 declared Ohio to be the world’s first Intelligent State based on its number of Intelligent Communities and state-level programs driving broadband deployment, innovation, workforce development, community engagement, inclusion and sustainability.

Recent Workshops

April 2024
How Smart Projects Make Intelligent Communities

September 2023
Smart Cities Workshop

July 2022
Dublin Innovation Day

Institute News

• Dublin Institute Workshop Reveals a State on the Move - By Robert Bell. I had the pleasure of visiting Dublin, Ohio again last month to speak at the Smart Cities Workshop produced by the ICF Institute there. Led by Doug McCollough (pictured right), the Institute is Dublin’s contribution to the development of central Ohio and the entire state based on ICF’s Community Accelerator Strategy. MORE
• Dublin Institute Webinar Shines Spotlight on Public-Private Innovation in Ohio - By Robert Bell. After the hard years of pandemic, the Dublin Institute returned to its regular programming on September 29 for the Intelligent Communities and aspiring cities and regions in central Ohio. It was once called the Rust Belt, but the middle of this American state has become an innovation engine in both business and government. MORE
• ICF Global Institute in Dublin, Ohio Targets Statewide Inititiatives - In June, city manager Dana McDaniel (center) retired from his long-time leadership position with the city of Dublin, Ohio. Dana founded the ICF Global Institute at Dublin in 2016 as an educational initiative for community leaders throughout central Ohio. MORE
• Presentation on the Dublin Institute - Delivered by Institute Founder Dana McDaniel at the 2019 ICF Global Summit in New York City.  
• Meanwhile Out on the Roads of Ohio... - By Louis Zacharilla. Public transit is a local issue. And while global challenges remain unsolved, local ones are being addressed aggressively, with or without the funding or support necessary from national governments. I am proud to say that a case in point was another event which took place in the state of Ohio, USA during General Assembly Session week in New York. The ICF’s Global Institute in Dublin, Ohio launched its first roadshow. MORE