Early Discounted Registration Available for the 4-6 June 2018 Conference

(19 December 2018 – New York City & London)  –The Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) announced today that registration is now open for the ICF Global Summit 2018 taking place 4-6 June in London.
 
In recent years, the ICF Global Summit has been held in New York City, Toronto, and Columbus, Ohio, USA. This is the first ICF Global Summit to be held in Europe.

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.

(June 8, 2017 – New York City) – The Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) today named Melbourne, Victoria, Australia the 2017 Intelligent Community of the Year at a dinner ceremony in the prestigious Landmark on the Park venue in Manhattan. The awards ceremony was the conclusion of the Intelligent Community Forum’s annual Summit.

“Melbourne is famously ‘the world’s most livable city,’ but the question was ‘Are they an Intelligent Community?’” said ICF co-founder Lou Zacharilla. “They answered that question this year. They are redefining the concept of technology, work, and the workspace. They have created a city that functions like an artist’s canvas. They have built an entire system where creativity flourishes, education is harnessed to the workforce, and quality of life has become the city’s greatest competitive advantage. It is a dynamic combination and one the Intelligent Community Forum honors.”

Melbourne was selected as the 2017 Intelligent Community of the Year after a year-long evaluation that included a quantitative analysis of extensive data, site inspections by the Intelligent Community Forum, and votes from an international jury made up of experts from around the world. Communities in the Awards program are evaluated based on six Intelligent Community Indicators, along with a seventh criteria, ICF’s annual theme, The Internet of Cities.

In a classic essay, the anthropologist Anthony C.W. Wallace described the phenomenon of cultural awakenings. Such movements are triggered, he said, by stress. “The mazeways of the culture, the customary patterns of behavior, are blocked. People cannot move into the roles they anticipated; their lives do not unfold in the ways they had been led to expect.”

Under the duress of disintegration, both social and economic, a few creative individuals—Wallace called them “New Lights”—propose a way out. They create new pathways through the maze. At first there is nativist backlash, in which traditionalists urge a return to old ways. But eventually the New Lights prevail. Their ideas are adopted, and the society moves into a new era.

Let’s just call the 2017 Top7, now all arrived in New York, the “New Lights.”

This week is the annual summit of the Intelligent Community Forum, where I’m Senior Fellow. Although there are workshops and meetings of the more than 140 intelligent communities from every continent, the events that draws the most attention are the discussions with the Top7 of the year and the ultimate winner.

I can still see the roadway at 6:00 AM, lined with people on bicycles and motorbikes, each carrying enormous bags on their shoulders, tethered to a long stick. The bags are filled with fresh fruits and vegetables, all healthy and large. An agricultural land for centuries was waking to another day, and along the roads, people were starting to spread out their goods. Surprisingly, wood-fired, small grills were already cooking sizzling meats and foods. (At 6:00 AM, I thought? Hmmmm. I could still taste the delicious cooked meat and beer from my late-night meal only a few hours before!) Life was springing up, and everywhere there was movement and calm amidst the chaotic bustling. Around this morning glory of human awakening in Asia’s youngest country, something else was being planned for them, although I am sure few were fully aware of what it was or what it was designed to deliver.

The first day of the ICF Summit, June 6, will feature many influential speakers in the intelligent community movement. Welcoming you to the summit will be ICF Co-Founders Robert Bell, John G. Jung and Louis Zacharilla, Dr. Roberto Gallardo, Founder, Intelligent Community Institute at Mississippi State and David Weng, Chief Investment Officer, Asia Silicon Valley Development Agency, Deputy Chairman, ICF Taiwan.

This year ICF is focusing on a new idea as its theme for the ICF annual Summit - the Internet of Cities. Cities are where transformation is happening at an unusual pace, especially with the convergence of the Internet of Things with the opportunities posed by 5G. Cities are also the drivers of change, where centers of innovation and creativity occur, where inclusion and circular economies take place and where cities are crucibles for experimentation and resiliency. Key areas that cities are investigating and investing in include autonomous vehicles, artificial intelligence, robotics, virtual reality, Internet of Things and smart city infrastructure. 5G will make all of these more likely and possible sooner than we imagine. As a result, cities and companies have quickened the pace for collaboration in order to be able to accommodate these transformative applications into their urban planning and design as well as into their long range budgets to deal with issues related to sustainability and resiliency. How will this be accomplished?

Each year, the leaders of Intelligent Communities gather with their partners in technology, education, business, economic development, healthcare and other sectors at the ICF Summit.  

This October - Summit 21

This October, one of the Top7 Communities of 2021 will be named the Intelligent Community of the Year at the 2021 ICF Global Summit. This year's Summit will be virtual and will feature online networking, conversations with the Top7 Communities, panel discussions, keynotes and much more!

Economic Growth Based on ICT

They engage in economic development matchmaking and a master class on challenges and best-practice solutions.  They hear thought-provoking keynotes and conversations from the innovators who are creating inclusive prosperity and solving social problems on a foundation of information and communications technology.  They network at lively social events and that honor the Top7 Intelligent Communities and witness the selection of the Intelligent Communities of the Year.

Many participate in meetings of ICF's membership.  Working through our Board and committees, they determines the Forum's policies and steer its research and development programs.  These meetings are open to both Full and Associate members of the Forum, as well as to invited guests.  

Summits take place in New York City, home of the Forum, and in Intelligent Communities around the world.  

What will you take away from the ICF Summit?

The annual ICF Summit is unlike any municipal, urban planning or economic development conference you attend.  You will take away value that translates into direct benefit to the citizens, businesses and institutions you serve:

Economic development leads.  Identify site location and investment opportunities, as well as “soft landing” targets for local business, at our economic development matchmaking session. 

Ideas you can put to use. Meet officials from cities, counties and metro areas who face similar challenges and have created strategies and programs to deal with them.  Many may have developed solutions that apply to your community. Peer mentoring starts at the Summit and continues long after through the relationships you forge. 

Inspiration to act.  Too often, efforts to build a better community wind up in an endless loop of meetings, analysis, workshops and more analysis.  The inspiring examples you encounter at the Summit show you how to take the first essential steps on the journey. 

International reach. McKinsey & Company estimates that 80% of the world’s trade will cross international borders by 2027.  Nobel Prize-winning economist Robert Solow has proven that 80% of economic growth comes from technology innovation.  The Summit is your most direct route to international opportunity in the innovation economy.  

Upcoming and Past Summits

• Summit 20, Dublin, Ohio, USA (virtual)
• Summit 19, New York City, New York, USA
• Summit 18, London, UK
• Summit 17, New York City, New York, USA
• Summit 16, Columbus, Ohio, USA
• Summit 15, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
• Summit 14, New York City, New York, USA

Key Events at the Annual Summit

• Urban and Rural Master Classes teaching development strategies based on information and communications technology
• Economic Development Matchmaking for public and private-sector organizations seeking new opportunities.
• Top7 Intelligent Communities Reception, honoring the finalists for the Intelligent Community Awards
• Top7 Conversations with the mayors and administrative leaders of our finalists
• Intelligent Community Awards Dinner, where one of the Top7 is named Intelligent Community of the Year

You have never seen the work of Ms. Hadam Sung and her sexy dance cover group from Korea, Bambino. She is a “nugu” to you (I’ll explain that one later). On the Internet, however, she is a record-breaking superstar whose talents are cherished throughout Asia. Thanks to broadband, they are exported worldwide. Broadband and innovation, the golden combo, have made it happen for her. Not to mention her hard work and her talent.