Leaders of World's Intelligent Communities to Speak in New York

NEW YORK, May 13 /PRNewswire/ -- On May 19-21, 2010, the leaders of the Intelligent Community Forum's Top Seven Intelligent Communities of 2010 will share success stories from around the world and discuss with 200 invited guests how they created new business and retain talent that powers innovative local economies from Virginia to South Korea.  

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ICF confirmed a powerful list of speakers for this year's Building the Broadband Economy summit, held at Polytechnic Institute of New York University's Brooklyn campus with workshops and special events in Manhattan.  Speakers include:

• Premier Shawn Graham of New Brunswick;
• Christopher Zimmerman, vice chairman of the board, Arlington County, Va.;
• Mayor Larry O'Brien of Ottawa;
• Mayor J.M.L.N. Mikkers of Veldhoven in the Eindhoven Region of the Netherlands;
• Jerry Hultin, president, Polytechnic Institute of New York University (NYU-Poly);
• Kevin MacRitchie, Cisco fellow – Collaborative Broadband & Educational Technologies, Cisco Systems;
• Toomas Sepp, city secretary, Tallinn, Estonia;
• Mike Galloway, director of city development, Dundee, Scotland;
• Damian Thorman, national program director, Knight Foundation;
• Dr. Cheol-Soo Park, professor, SungKyunKwan University, South Korea;
• Dave Carter, head of Manchester Digital Development Agency, Manchester, England;
• Dana McDaniel, deputy city manager, Dublin, Ohio; and
• Anette Scheibe, CEO, Electrum Foundation and Kista Science City AB, Stockholm Sweden.

In 2010, the Summit theme revolves around development of local talent and how to keep it.  In what ICF calls the Broadband Economy, communities must continually raise the skill levels of citizens at all ages and in all walks of life.  But, according to ICF Co-Founder Robert A. Bell, "Investments in education pay no dividends to the community if the people with new skills cannot find desirable and challenging work in the local economy."  The Summit will offer case studies from ICF's award-winning Smart21 and Top Seven Intelligent Community leaders who have grappled with this challenge and developed innovative strategies to close the education "last mile."

"The strategies adopted by these winning communities demonstrate how new technology, a committed citizenry, innovators and sustainability must converge and reinforce one another to create cities that are engaging and more livable," said Mel Horwitch, NYU-Poly Department of Technology professor. "At NYU-Poly we have a strong research and educational interest in intelligent communities. We find that the creative and eclectic approaches articulated by pacesetters like ICF and the summit speakers are especially important for success with such undertakings."

An exclusive, invitational event produced by the Intelligent Community Forum and NYU-Poly, the summit attracts attendees from North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia and Africa.  It is a unique opportunity to learn from the world's most dynamic communities how to use information and communications technology to build prosperous, inclusive and sustainable communities.  

On the final day of the Summit, ICF will announce the 2010 Intelligent Community of the Year during the Intelligent Community of the Year Awards Ceremony to be held at Steiner Film Studios.  In addition, ICF will honor New Brunswick Premier Shawn Graham as 2010 Visionary of the Year, as well as Founders Awards recipients: the educational programs in Tianjin Binhai New Area, China; the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project, and the Digital Schoolbag of Besancon, France.

About ICF

The Intelligent Community Forum (www.intelligentcommunity.org) is a think tank that studies the economic and social development of the 21st Century community. Whether in industrial or developing nations, communities are challenged to create prosperity, stability and cultural meaning in a world where jobs, investment and progress increasingly depend on broadband communications. For the 21st Century community, connectivity is a double-edge sword: threatening established ways of life on the one hand, and offering powerful new tools to build prosperous, inclusive economies on the other. The Intelligent Community Forum seeks to share the secrets of success of the world's Intelligent Communities in adapting to the demands of the Broadband Economy by conducting research, hosting events, publishing newsletters and producing an international awards program.

About Polytechnic Institute of New York University

Polytechnic Institute of New York University (formerly Polytechnic University), an affiliate of New York University, is one of New York City's most comprehensive schools of engineering, applied sciences, technology, and research, and is rooted in a 156-year tradition of invention, innovation, and entrepreneurship: i-squared-e. The institution, founded in 1854, is one of the nation's oldest private engineering schools. In addition to its main campus at MetroTech Center in downtown Brooklyn, it offers programs at sites throughout the region and around the globe. NYU-Poly has centers in Long Island, Manhattan and Westchester County; globally, it has programs in Israel, China and will be an integral part of NYU's campus in Abu Dhabi opening in autumn 2010. For more information, visit www.poly.edu.

SOURCE Polytechnic Institute of New York University