The City of Maple Ridge has launched a new virtual hackathon.

The city hopes to cultivate new, innovative solutions to keep citizens and businesses connected to their community, said a press release from city hall. Members of the public are invited to submit ideas for digital tools that align with council’s five strategic priorities, as found at mapleridge.ca.

Early ideas include a garbage and vandalism reporting platform, an app to link seniors to social activities during the pandemic and beyond, a Maple Ridge-focused interactive trail map and an online farmers market.

The Estonian capital, Tallinn, succeeds Taoyuan in Taiwan as the “number one intelligent community”.

The “intelligent community” title is handed over annually by the New York-based Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) – a global network of 180 cities, metro regions and counties, with a think tank at its heart. The think tank studies and promotes the best practices of the world’s “intelligent communities” as “they adapt to the new demands” and “seize the opportunities presented by broadband and digital technology”.

Newmarket may not be getting an award for being the world’s leading intelligent community, but that’s not going to stop it from blazing trails into the 21st century.

After having been named last October as one of the Smart21 Communities of 2020 by international think tank Intelligent Community Forum (ICF), the town has dropped off that semi-finalists list as the ICF has now announced its Top 7 finalists, one of whom will be named the Intelligent Community of the Year 2020 at a June 18 summit in Dublin, Ohio.

Corunna native Dr. Blake Pearson talked about the many benefits of medical pot during a presentation at the annual Central Forum speaker series at Central United Church on Feb. 5.

Pearson was one of six speakers who addressed the forum during a period of six weeks in both January and February.

The St. Christopher’s Catholic Secondary School grad said while medical cannabinoids are not the answer to all people’s prayers, when used effectively in consultation with a qualified medical practitioner, they have been proven to be highly effective when dealing with certain ailments and conditions, particularly chronic pain.

“Around 85 per cent of my patients deal with chronic pain,” he said. “It’s the number one diagnosis but I also deal with conditions like osteoarthritis, sleep disorders and chemo-induced nausea.”

The stigma surrounding medical marijuana is slowly fading away, Pearson told the Central Forum audience, as more doctors and pharmaceutical companies are recognizing the benefits of cannabinoid medicine.

“At the end of the day cannabinoid medicine is wonderful because of its multimodal effect,” he said. “It can reduce the number of medicines that people are on and that’s a good thing.”

Three Australian cities and two in New Zealand have made the short list produced by the New York based Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) for recognition as being the world’s smartest community.

The think tank has named Adelaide, Prospect (SA), the Sunshine Coast, Wellington and Whanganui in a list of 21 cities to begin its annual eight-month process that will conclude with it naming the 2020 Intelligent Community of the Year in June 2020 at the ICF Summit.

Whanganui has been declared one of the global communities "most ready for the 21st century".

Once again, Whanganui has been named a Smart21 Community by the Intelligent Community Forum (ICF), a New York-based think tank which helps communities adapt to a digital economy.

Adelaide has again been named one of the world’s top smart cities, winning a spot in the Intelligent Community Forum’s (ICF) ‘Smart21’.

The announcement, made on 22 October, comes as part of the ICF’s 2020 Intelligent Community of the Year Awards Program, which recognises communities that demonstrate best practices in broadband implementation, workforce development, digital inclusion, innovation, advocacy and sustainability.

Hudson was not named the Intelligent Community of the Year for 2019, but that fact doesn't mean the city didn't come out of the process a winner, according to Jim Stifler, Hudson's chief economic officer.

"In my mind, Hudson wins by just doing this," he said.

Lambton County didn’t win the top honour at Thursday’s Intelligent Community Forum awards in New York City, but Warden Bill Weber says officials are happy to be in the Top7.

The county, which includes the City of Sarnia, has been involved in the international program for several years, earning a place in its Smart 21 list since 2016 before moving recently into the Top7.

Weber joined a delegation from the Intelligent Sarnia-Lambton group this week at the forum’s Global Summit where Taoyuan, Taiwan, was named its 2019 Intelligent Community of the Year.

The Sunshine Coast made history today, putting the spotlight on our innovative, healthy, smart and creative region on the world stage in New York.

Mayor Mark Jamieson joined representatives from around the globe on stage as one of the Top7 Intelligent Communities of 2019, as rated by the global Intelligent Community Forum (ICF).