Greetings Smart + Connected Community Institute Members,

As we move into 2012, I’d like to make you aware of new content and highlights of what’s coming in 2012.

• 3 New Iconic City Pages. Three new projects focusing on education and healthcare have been added to the Iconic Cities section of the site:

George Brown College
Surrey Memorial Hospital
New Oakville Hospital

• Call for Webinar Topics. We’re planning upcoming webinars and welcome your input on speakers or topics you’d most like to see- please log in and leave your suggestions in the comments below this post. Sneak preview:  In March we’ll hear from Jay Nath, San Francisco’s newly appointed Chief Innovation Officer. Stay tuned for the date and additional details.
• New Videos and E-Book Featuring 29 City Interviews Posted. Videos from the 2011 Meeting of the Minds conference and a link to a new E-Book are now featured at the bottom of the Institute home page. Or, you can visit the blog to see current and past entries about what's been added.
• S+CCI Content is Going Social. Look for social sharing capabilities on documents, discussions and blog posts coming online soon. Social sharing will allow you to share your favorite S+CCI videos, white papers or discussions directly with your professional and personal networks on Linkedin, Twitter, Facebook and other social platforms.
• Change to S+CCI Registration Process. The registration process has been updated with two new steps to ensure the Institute membership continues to be individuals working build intelligent communities. When you register to join, you will receive an email validation request. To complete your registration you must click back through from that message (check your email Spam folder if it doesn’t appear). In addition, new registrations will be vetted by the moderator. If you register during a weekend or US national holiday, your request to join will be reviewed on the next business day. Current S+CCI members will not be affected by this new process.
• Updated Events Calendar. Lots of exciting 2012 events are happening this month and throughout the year. Check out the Events Calendar! 
  
• Email Newsletter Update. We are revamping our email newsletter process. Stay tuned for updates on what email to add to your address book so you can receive monthly Institute updates sent directly to your inbox. 

Don’t forget, the Institute is your community. As its members, your ideas on making it a richer destination for collaboration are always welcome. For those of you who participated in the summer 2011 member engagement survey, we're in R&D mode on some of those great suggestions!

We are pleased to announce our new blogger for the Smart+Connected Communities Institute. Martijn Moerbeek created the blog Strategic Perspectives in which he will share strategic focus for city managers, policy makers and city officials in planning and implementing a connected community. Moerbeek will focus on his background in construction, property development, city planning, building services, information and communication technology and technology.

A little about Moerbeek...

My interest in this topic dates  back a long time. I was born and raised in the Netherlands and choose to  study Civil Engineering as the Netherlands, more than any other country,  is shaped by how we transform nature and our surroundings to the  benefit of our citizens, the environment and the economy at large. In  reality, these are the three pillars of sustainability. From here on I  moved into project management of large building projects (most notable  inner city developments, office buildings and shopping centers) as I  wanted to understand more how buildings impact on their users and  occupants.

In  my next role I joined a major building services providers as I realized  that although architecture is important, it is really the services  within a building that make it live. As part of this, I was responsible  for their corporate strategy and I pushed for an intelligent buildings, a  workplace 2.0 and managed services proposition which really started to  form the basis of my appreciation of what S+CC can do.

In  short, I have always been a believer in how the built environment and  technology can shape and create environments that can provide answers to  many of the pressing issues that our developing and already  overburdened planet faces. I think my round experience has helped me in  pulling all the puzzle pieces together. This experience includes, an  appreciation of civil engineering, city developments, building services  and ICT, how buildings and the built environment impacts on people and  the environment, program management, engagement with policy makers,  architects and all stakeholders in the construction/technology process,  whole-life appreciation of built assets, in-depth architectural  appreciation (my wife is an architect!), the latest technological  developments and much more, and you can see how all this is now  converging into the space that you call S+CC. What's more, I have  extensive experience in penetrating new market spaces, business  development and proposition creation so I know how I can bring new and  innovative services with hard to quantify benefits to the market.

Check out the blog Strategic Perspectives! Click on Receive Email Notifications in the right column to receive an email when a new post is added.