March 14, 2021 – Today was declared a day of remembrance in New York City. It was on this date one year ago that the first person in the Big Apple died from COVID19.

We posted as best we could the early weeks of this shock – an emotional and civic trauma unlike any other in my lifetime – in our “No Place BUT Home” series.

Words were not of much use as this city was hollowed out and whipsawed in a perfect storm; one where all of its cultural jewels and unique assets – bound together for generations like a Sicilian family – were unraveled so spectacularly that religious people proclaimed this novel corona virus the author of a “biblical epic.” It had its own exodus as 300,000 people fled the terror of ending up in a crowded or non-existent ICU. While some relied on religious analogies, readers of Sartre, author of The Plague (copies of the 1947 novel sold out in weeks), noted that life is tenuous, viruses have unimaginable power and that communities and societies can be overturned, transformed or even eviscerated in the time it takes to cough, lose your breath and die. In a few weeks, it appeared that our public health networks, our technology and our sophisticated rituals could not sustain us.

Below are our most popular posts on SmartCitiesWorld in 2018, highlighting smart city priorities such as transportation, governance and partnerships.

For me, the most interesting thing in smart cities in 2018 was the more open discussion around the social risks of smart cities and practical moves to address them. This included more attention on the risks associated with the rise of facial recognition technology, concerns about data privacy, the acknowledgement of unintended consequences and the need to pay attention to growing cyber risks as our cities get more connected.

Father Walter Wagner is the Pastor of the Parish of St. Vincent Ferrer & St. Catherine of Sienna in Manhattan where he serves as the Prior for Dominican priests and brothers serving the community and the healthcare ministry. The Order has been in NY for 150 years. Part 3 of 3.

Clayton Banks is the Co-Founder and CEO of Silicon Harlem.  The mission of Silicon Harlem is to transform Harlem and other urban markets into Innovation and Technology Hubs.  Under his leadership, Silicon Harlem has been able to partner with the Department of Education for New York City to establish an after school STEM based startup accelerator, collaborate with the NYC Mayor’s office to assess wireless broadband in upper Manhattan and coordinate a virtual startup incubator for tech based entrepreneurs.  Banks has established and produces the only comprehensive technology conference in Harlem, the Silicon Harlem tech conference is focused on next generation internet and its impact on urban markets economic development.

Clayton Banks is the Co-Founder and CEO of Silicon Harlem.  The mission of Silicon Harlem is to transform Harlem and other urban markets into Innovation and Technology Hubs.  Under his leadership, Silicon Harlem has been able to partner with the Department of Education for New York City to establish an after school STEM based startup accelerator, collaborate with the NYC Mayor’s office to assess wireless broadband in upper Manhattan and coordinate a virtual startup incubator for tech based entrepreneurs.  Banks has established and produces the only comprehensive technology conference in Harlem, the Silicon Harlem tech conference is focused on next generation internet and its impact on urban markets economic development.

Lou and ICF awaited the Top7 at the American Museum of Finance on Wall Street.

Did anyone notice that Washington D.C. declared “Infrastructure Week” during the week of June 6? (LOL)

Fortunately, a few hundred miles north of the USA’s skittish capitol, in New York, the actual work of the new global infrastructure was on display. During the ICF’s first Summit in New York since 2014, we really were talking seriously about how broadband, knowledge work and implementing exotic things like the “Triple Helix” in Vietnam were bringing hope, prosperity and real change in the places we call “home.”

There is hope at the local levels. In fact, while national governments have their own “hyper” moment right now, local communities are giving “hyper” a good name.

This year’s Summit was also a Moveable Feast. One thing you need to know about an #ICFSummit: we really do not like to be in one place, especially some stale, over-chilled hotel conference room. When we do our thing we want people to experience the hyper city of New York, not the hype from a hotel conference room podium. A hotel is not a city.

A city is.

I had one of the most memorable New Year’s Days that I have had in my 35 years in New York. I was not hungover, which was a new experience. Yet I did celebrate with millions of New Yorkers, although not in Times Square, and not at night. Instead, I was on the Upper Eastside of the city, in my own neighborhood but with an enthusiastic crowd.

We were not watching the legendary “Ball” drop in Times Square. Honestly, this is for tourists who enjoy freezing for a free thrill which ends up costing them a lot of money because they are in Manhattan eating, drinking and sleeping after the Ball goes down. My thrill cost only US$2.75.

I rode the Subway.

As the first hurricane-force storm sits just off from the Atlantic Ocean’s shores, the American Northeast Summer draws to a close. During its rapid course, I took some hours to look back on the ICF Summit in June, celebrate its highlights and to consider what it means as our movement goes forward into the next Awards cycle, with its conclusion this time on the big stage of New York.

The US capital of finance, publishing and broadcast television, New York launched investments in the late 1990s to build a digital economy. In 1995, the city created a venture fund, the Plug ‘n’ Go program, which offered affordable, pre-wired, Internet-ready office space to young companies, and “Digital New York: Wired to the World,” which provides seed funding to create new high-tech clusters in the rest of the city outside Manhattan.

Population: 8,063,000

Website: www.nyc.gov

Intelligent Community of the Year 2001