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.

When Sgt. Dominic Zacharilla and his armored group crashed through the gates of a Nazi death camp in 1945, they were followed by my Uncle Pete and his team of U.S. Army medics. While neither saw each other during the horrific campaign both were similarly shaken. Even General George Patton, leader of the American Third Army, threw up at the sight of the death camp.

Both of my uncles came home from war decorated and honored. They settled into unremarkable but decent lives in their hometown. Uncle Dominic went to a trade school and learned to become a barber, where he opened his own shop. Uncle Pete, a big brawny guy, worked in a family lumber business. Both loved fishing in the Finger Lakes of upstate New York. Both raised families. Their children were educated, competent, successfully solid members of their communities. Two left the village and settled in other states.

Langley, BC – Are you a problem solver, a techie, an innovator, someone who is super creative? Great, because if you have some technology skills, the Township has a fun opportunity to challenge you and maybe, you can even win a prize.

Beginning on January 14, the Township has been accepting registrations for a virtual codathon in conjunction with the 2021 Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) virtual Smart21 conference co-hosted by the Township of Langley and the City of Maple Ridge from February 22-24, 2021.

MONTREAL, Jan. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- GlobalStep, a leading global provider of Technology Services to the Games Industry, today announced its new Center of Excellence for testing, deployment and the complete lifecycle management of games, located in the heart of Montreal's Mile End neighborhood. The opening aligns with GlobalStep's commitment to additional rapid growth and expansion in the region.

The 17,000 sq. ft. facility has been custom designed and is home to GlobalStep's Center of Excellence for Games QA, Localization, and Localization QA lines of service, as well as AR/VR testing. Located at 5800 Saint Denis, the space lays the foundation for GlobalStep to build closer ties and provide greater global support to its growing customer base.

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 second roundtable discussion in the How Does Taiwan Do It? series explores how Taiwan has a variety of smart healthcare solutions to contribute to global community in the face of COVID-19 pandemic. It is moderated by Dr. Norman Jacknis, Senior Fellow of the Intelligent Community Forum and a faculty member at Columbia University.

The first roundtable discussion in this series looks at how government responds to citizens’ needs, particularly when dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. It is moderated by Louis Zacharilla, a co-founder of the Intelligent Community Forum.

With the right investments in technology, rural communities could use this moment to remake their futures. One small town shows how.

Signs direct visitors to Mitchell, S.D., for hundreds of miles around. The town, which is a bit more than an hour west of Sioux Falls along Interstate 90, is home to the Corn Palace, a classic roadside attraction that in a non-pandemic year attracts about a half-million visitors. Enticed by the endless string of billboards, weary travelers pull off the interstate to take a look at the palace’s onion-shaped domes and corn-colored murals depicting bison, Mount Rushmore and George McGovern, the late senator and long-ago presidential candidate who was a native son of Mitchell.

Mitchell Technical College and Lake Area Technical College in Watertown are going to be beneficiaries of more than $4 billion of giving from philanthropist and novelist MacKenzie Scott, it was announced Wednesday.

The amount of the gift for the colleges was not stated in the announcement. Scott, who is deemed the richest woman in the world with a net worth of more than $60 billion, has committed $4.15 billion in philanthropy, much of it directed toward supporting those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

While most people think of Silicon Valley as the leading tech hub in the world, Estonia is quickly becoming a top player on the world stage for entrepreneurship and technology. Famed for its innovation, Estonia boasts a vast community of over 1,000 startups – famously dubbed the #EstonianMafia on Twitter – including a varied mix of established names such as Skype, to newer innovators such as unicorns including Pipedrive, Transferwise, and Bolt.

With its disruptive startup ecosystem, progressive government policies, and digital nomad education initiatives, it is fast becoming a more attractive alternative to Silicon Valley’s crowded ecosystem.