User:Jgjung/sandbox/John G. Jung - Biography

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John G. Jung originated the “Intelligent Community” concept and continues to serve as the Intelligent Community Forum's leading visionary, co-founder and Chairman. He is a registered professional urban planner, urban designer, economic developer and professor in Canada, living currently in Toronto, Ontario. His work has taken him to every corner of the globe. He has headed up key portfolios and initiatives in global cities such as Toronto, Calgary, New York, Hong Kong and Taipei. He was a planner in cities across Canada, including Toronto’s Planning Department focused on the Central Core and Waterfront and led economic development organizations in Calgary, Greater Toronto Area and Canada’s Technology Triangle. Co-author of Brain Gain and contributor of other books and publications, he has been invited for over 30 years as a global keynote speaker at such events as Rio’s TedxTalks, Mobile World in Barcelona, APEC in Beijing and Global Forum conferences in Europe, in addition to his own Intelligent Community conferences, held around the world. He has also led business missions, strategic workshops and design charrettes globally.

John emigrated to the United States with his family from Germany in 1955 and later moved with his mother to Canada in 1966, leaving behind older family members in the United States. After graduating from the University of Waterloo and his first professional planning position in Newfoundland, he and his wife, Carolyn moved to Manchester, UK where he obtained his post graduate degree in Urban Design. Returning to Canada, he was employed as an urban planner and urban designer in Calgary and Toronto before he joined the Toronto Harbor Commissioners (THC) in charge of the Planning and Development of Toronto's port and waterfront areas. Through the THC's participation as founding members of the World Trade Centers Association and World Teleport Association (WTA), John was able to join the international committees of these bodies and eventually joined the Board of the WTA. Through the WTA he traveled globally during the 1980's and 1990's to see first hand what global cities were attempting to achieve with the use of advanced telecommunications, especially with satellites and the expansion of broadband via undersea cables. He became a thought leader on the subject of wired, broadband-enabled cities and was among the first to use the term "smart cities" in his speeches and writing.

He was invited to host the WTA international gathering in Toronto, however he turned the topic around from teleports and satellites to smart cities, attracting 1200 global attendees to the world's first Smart Cities conference called "SMART'95" held in Toronto from September 12-16, 1995. From this initial gathering, the global organization called the Intelligent Community Forum was eventually formed in New York City. Led by John Jung and his co-founders, Robert Bell and Louis Zacharilla, the Intelligent Community Forum is a global network of cities and regions with a think tank at its center. Its mission is to help communities in the digital age find a new path to economic development and community growth – one that creates inclusive prosperity, tackles social challenges, and enriches quality of life. The Forum uses data from its awards program and undertakes extensive research to develop insights and share information about best practices, case studies and methodologies to advance community quality of life and development.

The ICF Method helps communities of all sizes obtain the broadband and digital assets they need and turn them into inclusive prosperity and social and cultural growth. Over two decades, ICF refined its analytics to identify a community’s strengths and weaknesses and to recommend the most productive steps to move forward. Its work begins with an insight: that the digital age demands new ways of thinking about what makes a city, town or region work. It requires leaders to care about different things and see their responsibilities in a bigger context. Cities, towns and regions that adapt to these demands survive and thrive amid technology disruption and global competition. Those that don’t face stagnation, decline, population loss and the social and cultural erosion they bring.

The ICF Method calls for communities to focus on six critical factors:  broadband connectivity and applications; development of knowledge workers and attraction and retention of talent; creation and execution of innovation and its ecosystem; opportunities to share digital growth and prosperity equitably across the community; strategically planning within a sustainable and resilient framework; and using the tools to be inclusive, open, collaborative and ethically-focused from a people-first perspective. By looking beyond the technology, advanced infrastructure and data analytics that make up what have been referred to as "smart cities" and working to achieve the factors that make up the ICF Method, communities are able to elevate their communities to become "Intelligent Communities".

ICF has over two decades recognized nearly 200 global town, cities and regions as "Intelligent Communities" through a year-long awards program that is adjudicated over three stages: the first order of twenty-one smart cities are selected as SMART21 cities. They are further evaluated and short-listed into seven TOP7 Intelligent Communities. Following an extensive on-site visit validating their claims and showcased at a three day conference and awards program, the final Intelligent Community of the Year is selected as the year's best model or case study for its practice and development as an "Intelligent Community". ICF publishes research papers, books and other information to share among communities interested to become Intelligent Communities. ICF also has developed institutes and national organizations in Canada, Taiwan and the United States that support the research and other work of the ICF.

John has helped to initiate the ICF Institute in Taiwan and ICF Taiwan and ICF Canada, the latter of which he heads as its Executive Director. John is also a professor and Expert-in-Residence in Smart Cities at the Institute without Boundaries at George Brown College School of Design in Toronto. His work includes research in urban planning and design related to Aging in Place and Ethical Smart Cities.