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PODCAST

The Intelligent Community

The Intelligent Community Forum

In the official podcast from the Intelligent Community Forum, we speak with the movers and shakers in the intelligent community movement around the world. Hear how communities are embracing the 21st century for economic prosperity, enriching their cultures, and improving the quality of lives of their citizens.

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All Episodes

18:38

Love & Trash in the Big City

The Intelligent Community ·

2026/01/21

In this edition of THE INTELLIGENT COMMUNITY: The Soul of the City, Lou speaks with Rachael Cain, Founder of Pick Up Pigeons, a volunteer club with hundreds of participants who nightly during the week scour the five boroughs of New York City picking up volumes of trash and collecting data. The group was recently named "New Yorker of the Week." Rachael is a New York resident, lawyer and urban planner who works on some of the biggest construction projects in America. She also gets very

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21:31

Auditing a Champion: What ICF Learned from the...

The Intelligent Community ·

2025/12/23

In this edition of THE INTELLIGENT COMMUNITY: The Soul of the City, Lou speaks with Ms. Richmond who was the ICF Site Auditor of the community that was named the new Intelligent Community of the Year in December 2025 (Durham Region, Ontario, Canada). Cynthia Richmond, who was responsible for investigating Durham's activities and reporting to the ICF Jury, has three decades of experience in economic development and prior to retirement helped lead Arlington County, Virginia (USA) to three Top7

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44:53

A Conversation with 2021 Intelligent Community of the...

The Intelligent Community ·

2025/12/10

Winnipeg is the capital of the Canadian province of Manitoba, located in the center of the North American continent. Winnipeg's economy is dominated by agriculture, energy, manufacturing and a growing tech scene. Over the past decade, the city has built a new economic foundation by connecting industry, education and a rising technology sector. Winnipeg's digital transformation began when local business leaders, frustrated by poor broadband service, established the Manitoba Internet Exchange to

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54:30

Intelligence Test: How Cities Succeed (Bursa and...

The Intelligent Community ·

2025/11/25

John Jung and Wendy Dupley discuss the critical and common elements of community intelligence, using two Top7 Communities of 2025: Bursa Metropolitan Municipality (Türkiye) and Hilliard, Ohio (USA) as examples.

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28:43

Small but Mighty (and very Intelligent) in Big Brazil

The Intelligent Community ·

2025/11/12

In this episode of The Intelligent Community, ICF Co-Founder Lou Zacharilla has a conversation with Michel Ângelo Bomtempo, mayor of Assaí, Paraná, Brazil. Mayor Bomtempo and a team of young people engage ICF to promote their city. It's fresh and shows why the ICF Awards are so important. Businessman in the metalworking industry, mayor Bomtempo was elected mayor four times in the city of Assaí, Paraná, Brazil. In the third term of mayor (2021/2024), through the adoption of a smart cities concept,

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28:43

Intelligence Test: Thriving Beside the Neighborhood...

The Intelligent Community ·

2025/10/29

In our new podcast, Intelligence Test, Robert Bell speaks with the inventor of a technology that could harvest the waste heat from factories, power plants and data centers and turn it into electricity, Brendan MacDonald, and Alison Burgess, who runs communications and engagement for the Durham Region, Ontario, Canada. You need to hear from them both because this remarkable advance is not just the product of one brilliant mind – it is the child of a deep and rich ecosystem of innovation that Durham

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22:46

Turkey’s First Top7 Community: A Conversation with...

The Intelligent Community ·

2025/10/15

In part 2 of this conversation with the City of Bursa on The Intelligent Community, ICF Co-Founder Lou Zacharilla has a conversation with Demet Sinmez, Smart Urbanization Branch Manager, Bursa Metropolitan Municipality. The Ottoman Empire’s first capital city has transformed itself into a forward-looking community of three million while maintaining its cultural roots and skill at bringing together groups for collaboration. Bursa is a UNESCO Heritage site where one can still see the Ottoman’s urban

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24:08

Turkey’s First Top7 Community: A Conversation with...

The Intelligent Community ·

2025/10/01

The Ottoman Empire’s first capital city has transformed itself into a forward-looking community of three million while maintaining its cultural roots and skill at bringing together groups for collaboration. Bursa is a UNESCO Heritage site where one can still see the Ottoman’s urban planning. Our conversation with Demet Sinmez, Head of the Smart Urbanism branch of the metropolitan municipality ranges from Bursa’s focus on SMEs, education to one of its great quality of life treasures: its annual

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30:55

"Entrepreneurial, Resilient and No Weeds!” The Top7...

The Intelligent Community ·

2025/09/17

The smallest community in terms of population this year, Fairfield, Iowa not only thinks globally – but deep and universally! A unique place in America’s heartland, Fairfield has the advantage of being in a rural setting with natural beauty and is a place where people know each other and are quick to lend a helping hand. But its leaders were among the first in the intelligent community movement who learned that its future depends on the digital infrastructure, education and – yes - the world around

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38:17

"Entrepreneurial, Resilient and No Weeds!” The Top7...

The Intelligent Community ·

2025/09/03

The smallest community in terms of population this year, Fairfield, Iowa not only thinks globally – but deep and universally! A unique place in America’s heartland, Fairfield has the advantage of being in a rural setting with natural beauty and is a place where people know each other and are quick to lend a helping hand. But its leaders were among the first in the intelligent community movement who learned that its future depends on the digital infrastructure, education and – yes - the world around

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28:19

The Basque's Intelligent Gem: A Conversation with...

The Intelligent Community ·

2025/08/20

It has been an urban revitalization like few others in the world. Legendary in fact. Bilbao and its metropolitan district has a strategic location near the sea which confirmed its strength as a trading center and evolution into the great economic giant of the Basque Country in the days of iron and steel, shipyards mining. But in the 1970’s and 1980’s it hit the skids and went into a deep crisis. As its problems got deeper people left, it physically grew uglier while its environment became more

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28:06

Dynamic Metros Rule, Part 2

The Intelligent Community ·

2025/08/06

ICF has its international awards program for which it is famous. But that does it take to become one of America’s ”Most Dynamic Metro Areas?” and where are they located? Heartland Forward’s Chief Reseach Officer discusses the results of the ”think and do tank’s” long-awaited report and drops facts behind the reason that, despite the fact it has 39% of the national population, this vast American expanse of talent, resources and states, from North Dakota to Texas, only attracted 10% of investment -

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28:40

Dynamic Metros Rule

The Intelligent Community ·

2025/07/23

ICF has its international awards program for which it is famous. But that does it take to become one of America’s ”Most Dynamic Metro Areas?” and where are they located? Heartland Forward’s Chief Reseach Officer discusses the results of the ”think and do tank’s” long-awaited report and drops facts behind the reason that, despite the fact it has 39% of the national population, this vast American expanse of talent, resources and states, from North Dakota to Texas, only attracted 10% of investment -

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34:29

Discussing Smart21 Community Brightlands-Limburg,...

The Intelligent Community ·

2025/07/09

ICF's Lou Zacharilla speaks with Mr. Stephan Satijn, Regional Minister for Economy, Finance & Business Operations, Province of Limburg, in this sit-down interview discussing the Brightlands-Limburg Region, a Smart21 Community of 2025. Perhaps best known as the place where the Maastricht Treaty was signed to establish the European Union, the Brightlands-Limburg Region has undergone a decade of growth and transformation. Through a concentrated effort to leverage existing industries and a strong

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25:35

Two-time Top7 Community, Part 2

The Intelligent Community ·

2025/06/25

Fast Company Magazine shocked a lot of people when it published its list of the most Innovative Companies for Economic Development and – whoa! – a city appeared. An Intelligent Community in the USA state of Ohio: Hilliard. The ICF network knows Hilliard as one of the leading cities and a two-time Top7 community. But this was a big-time recognition. How much of it had to do with being an Intelligent Community? The City Manager, Michelle Crandall tells us in this podcast. Michelle currently serves

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23:42

Two-time Top7 Community

The Intelligent Community ·

2025/06/11

Fast Company Magazine shocked a lot of people when it published its list of the most Innovative Companies for Economic Development and – whoa! – a city appeared. An Intelligent Community in the USA state of Ohio: Hilliard. The ICF network knows Hilliard as one of the leading cities and a two-time Top7 community. But this was a big-time recognition. How much of it had to do with being an Intelligent Community? The City Manager, Michelle Crandall tells us in this podcast.

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17:38

Looking Ahead at the Top 7 Conference

The Intelligent Community ·

2025/05/28

The Top7 Communities of 2025 will be announced in Las Rozas de Madrid, Spain – a Smart21 Community and leading community in Spanish intelligent community development. Las Rozas is a city of just under 100,000 people, and is home to nearly 15,000 companies and self-employed workers. Its success has been from a combination of strong mayoral leadership, multi-level workforce development, and an innovation ecosystem largely driven by Las Rozas Innova, the Municipal Company for Innovation, Technological

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30:16

Smart and Smarter Canada, Part 2

The Intelligent Community ·

2025/05/14

Canada has contributed more Intelligent Communities to the ICF global network than any other country. In 2025 Canada once again placed four of its regions and cities on the list of ICF’s Smart21, the first step in the annual Awards program. How does Canada achieve this hard-won annual goal? And what do this year’s communities have to say about sustainability, economic development… and that little dispute with their neighbor, friend and largest trading partner! A great roundtable conversation with

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26:02

Smart and Smarter Canada, Part 1

The Intelligent Community ·

2025/04/30

Canada has contributed more Intelligent Communities to the ICF global network than any other country. In 2025 Canada once again placed four of its regions and cities on the list of ICF’s Smart21, the first step in the annual Awards program. How does Canada achieve this hard-won annual goal? And what do this year’s communities have to say about sustainability, economic development… and that little dispute with their neighbor, friend and largest trading partner! A great roundtable conversation with

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40:13

A New Idea for Urban Mobility: A Conversation with...

The Intelligent Community ·

2025/04/16

Doug McCollough has been CIO of leading digital cities, including Dublin, Ohio where he helped lead that small city to multiple awards, including ICF’s Top7. He recently took over the role of Executive Director for the ICF Institute, and was recently names the first-ever Executive Director of the Beta District, which spans several cities in the most important industrial corridor of Central Ohio. And he is producing a Future of Mobility Conference in May that will bring new ideas to the life of urban

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149 results

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