The Smart City Summit and Expo (SCSE) in Taipei is one of the largest conferences and expositions for smart city technology and trends in the world, taking place in a nation that produces 60% of the world’s semiconductors. From March 19 through 22, SCSE will host 150,000 visitors at convention centers in Taipei and Kaohsiung. Joining them will be an ICF delegation from cities, technology companies, universities and public-private accelerators organized in partnership with the ICF Institute in Taiwan and the national organization ICF Taiwan.

Social, economic and political division have a cost. I suspect we can all agree on that, despite our divisions. But how much is it?

In 2023, two ratings agencies downgraded the credit worthiness of the United States. Their reason? Division, specifically the repeated down-to-the-wire debt ceiling battles that threatened the government’s ability to pay its bills. The agencies admitted the downgrades would have no immediate impact on America’s ability to borrow. That word “immediate” reminded me a Hemingway character who, when asked how he went bankrupt, said, “Two ways. Gradually, then suddenly.”

The price is hard to measure because, most of the time, it is about lost opportunity. Take local government. When voters are divided, they alternately elect leaders of wildly different beliefs about the right way to govern, often with the speed of Dr. Jekyll turning into Mr. Hyde and back again. Each set of leaders condemns the work of their predecessors and starts building something new, only to see it torn down again with the next change of office. Forward motion freezes and, with it, the ability to seize the opportunities streaming by.

In this episode of The Intelligent Community, ICF Co-Founder Lou Zacharilla speaks with Amy Rowland, Award-Winning Novelist and Lecturer at the University of California, Berkeley.

In this episode of The Intelligent Community, ICF Co-Founder Lou Zacharilla speaks with Amy Rowland, Award-Winning Novelist and Lecturer at the University of California, Berkeley.

In this episode of The Intelligent Community, ICF Co-Founder Lou Zacharilla speaks further with Karl Grossman, Journalist, Host of the Enviro Close-Up TV program and Professor of Journalism at SUNY at Old Westbury. They continue their discussion on the changing landscape of journalism, particularly at the local level.

Annual Awards Program to culminate in October 2024 with the announcement of the 2024 Intelligent Community of the Year

(December 6, 2023 – New York City) - After announcing Binh Duong, Vietnam as the 2023 Intelligent Community of the Year, the Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) has opened nominations for the next cycle of its prestigious international Awards Program for cities and regions.

The honorees in the Awards Program are announced in three stages. In March 2024, ICF will name its Smart21 Communities, selected through analysis of data on hundreds of cities, counties and regions. The Smart21 announcement will take place during the Smart City Summit and Expo in Taipei, Taiwan, which will be attended by an economic development mission of ICF member communities. In June, New Taipei City will host the Top7 Conference, where ICF will name the seven communities selected by its independent analysts from among the Smart21. The 2024 Awards Program culminates with the announcement of the 26th Intelligent Community of the Year at the ICF Global Summit in late 2024.

In this episode of The Intelligent Community, ICF Co-Founder Lou Zacharilla speaks with Karl Grossman, Journalist, Host of the Enviro Close-Up TV program and Professor of Journalism at SUNY at Old Westbury. They discuss the changing landscape of journalism, particularly at the local level, and what may be in store for news reporting in the future.

In this episode of The Intelligent Community, ICF Co-Founder Lou Zacharilla speaks further with José Roberto Lagunes Trejo, Research and Strategy Lead at Mexico City’s Fundación Hogares. They discuss trust and how a social index the Fundación has created is helping repair the social fabric in Mexican communities.

In this episode of The Intelligent Community, ICF Co-Founder Lou Zacharilla speaks with José Roberto Lagunes Trejo, Research and Strategy Lead at Mexico City’s Fundación Hogares. They discuss the method used by José Roberto’s organization to reinvigorate rundown neighborhoods and build trust among citizens in places where mistrust and fear have become embedded.

The Intelligent Community Forum Names its First Vietnamese City for Development Excellence

(October 26, 2023 – New York City, NY) – For the first time in its 24-year history, the Intelligent Community Forum honored a Vietnamese city with its top award today when it named Binh Duong as the 2023 Intelligent Community of the Year. Binh Duong, located in the southern part of the country, had been previously named a Smart21 Community five times and to the prestigious list of Top7 three times since 2019. Mai Hung Dung, Member of the Provincial Party Standing Committee and Permanent Vice Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee accepted the award for Binh Duong. The announcement was made during the annual Intelligent Community Awards Dinner in New York City, the culminating event of this year’s ICF Global Summit conference. (www.icfsummit.com)

“This year we witnessed an historic moment in the life of cities with Vietnam’s first Intelligent Community being named Intelligent Community of the Year,” said ICF Co-Founder Louis Zacharilla. “Binh Duong has methodically executed ICF’s Community Accelerator Strategy while participating in our annual awards. The city is a great example of the power of teamwork, focus on a clear and persistent strategy and a passionate dedication to creating a place that honors its people and is part of a nation preparing its citizens for the 21st Century. ICF’s Founders were also pleased to see Eindhoven, a former Intelligent Community of the Year, work with Binh Duong on adapting the Dutch city’s experience and best practices to Vietnam’s culture and transitioning economy. Binh Duong represents many things to other cities throughout the world, but mainly, it is physical, vibrant proof that ‘the middle of nowhere is no more!’”