Ontario is investing in renewed and renovated facilities at Conestoga College that will provide specialized training and programming opportunities for students in Kitchener-Waterloo, and better equip them with the skills they need for the jobs of today and tomorrow.

Daiene Vernile, MPP for Kitchener Centre was joined by MarwanTabbara, MP for Kitchener South-Hespeler and Raj Saini for MP for Kitchener Centre, at Conestoga College today to announce funding for the college's Pathways to Prosperity campus renewal project.

December 21, 2016 (Toronto) - The Intelligent Community Forum Canada (ICF Canada)’s position paper called “Broadband: The Essential Utility” supports the CRTC’s announcement today declaring broadband Internet access a basic service for all Canadians. 

ICF Canada has been working through its Technical Committee, headed by ICF Canada member, Campbell Patterson, on a position paper which supports the CRTC’s establishment of a universal service objective that all Canadians, whether in rural and remote areas as well as in urban centres, should have access to voice services and broadband Internet access services on fixed and mobile wireless networks including new broadband speed targets and new funding for broadband projects in areas that don’t meet these targets. ICF Canada agrees with the CRTC’s directions which will fundamentally shift its regulations related to basic services from voice-related to broadband-related. 

Video has been published from ICF co-founder Lou Zacharilla’s recent talk at TEDxRio in Brazil. The talk, titled "There's No Place Like Home," focused on the impact of broadband and technological access on the rebirth of the world's communities as a whole. Watch the video below:

Over the past two decades, the concept of the smart city and Intelligent Community has evolved. ICF’s core ideas quickly went beyond the concept of primarily promoting broadband and related smart infrastructure and evolved an holistic approach reflecting people’s use and application of this infrastructure for economic, social and cultural gain; reflecting societal needs and aspirations; and encouraging innovation, advocacy and sustainability. These concepts became improved over the years, explained and reinforced, but their core values have been around for a long time.

OULU, Finland — No one would confuse this frigid corner of northern Finland with Silicon Valley. Notched in low pine forests just 100 miles below the Arctic Circle, Oulu seems more likely to achieve dominance at herding reindeer than at nurturing technology start-ups.

But this city has roots as a hub for wireless communications, and keen aspirations in innovation. It also has thousands of skilled engineers in need of work. Many were laid off by Nokia, the Finnish company once synonymous with mobile telephones and more recently at risk of fading into oblivion.

New report focuses on building the workforce for the 21^st Century economy

(15 December 2016 – New York City) – The Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) today released a new research report, Ladders of Opportunity: Growing and Retaining Tomorrow’s Talent. It details how Intelligent Communities create a system and structure that prepares their children and youth for the high demands and entrepreneurial opportunities of tomorrow’s workforce.  The principles of workforce development are illustrated in depth by the strategies and experiences of four Intelligent Communities in North America, Europe and Asia.  

Estonia will be holding the presidency of the EU for its first time during the second half of 2017. As such, it’s expected that the number of foreign officials visiting Estonia will increase exponentially. This is a unique opportunity to present the tech-savvy nature of Estonians.

With approximately 20 high-level events due to take place, as well as up to 12 unofficial meetings of various ministers from all over Europe, it is important to show the world what Estonia has to offer, what the country can do and how Europe could benefit from our actions.

On March 9, 2017 the first large conference for Blockchain developers and businessmen – Blockchain & Bitcoin Conference – will be held in Tallinn. Representatives of leading IT companies, authors of startups and everyone who is interested in Blockchain technologies will come together.

Calgary sits in second place out of 10 Canadian cities for its socio-economic and physical health — while Edmonton sits third from the bottom, the Conference Board of Canada says.

Its City Health Monitor, released Tuesday morning, compares Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec City and Halifax.

Felipe Chibante completed his PhD in chemistry in 1992 at Rice University in Houston, Tex. In the years after, Chibante, who was raised in Fredericton, N.B., didn’t tread the traditional academic path. He stayed in Houston and founded two startups that conducted contract research for government, the oil industry and NASA. That research generated a lot of intellectual property, but most of it was shelved and left unexplored.