Louis Pin - The Sarnia Observer, Jan. 25, 2019Sarnia and Lambton County residents are needed to help build a plan for the future of the community, one focused on three core tenants: economy, culture, and society.It might sound vague, but brainstorming work by the�Intelligent Sarnia-Lambton Taskforce has helped Sarnia-Lambton�become a mainstay�on Intelligent Community Forum�s��Top 21 Intelligent Communities��list. Conversely, the last four years have been bittersweet as Sarnia-Lambton has been shut out of the whittled-down Top7 Intelligent Communities list.Late Thursday, the task force announced it would hold a series of private and public forums to push their ongoing applications to the next level.�When we didn�t make Top7 for the second, third time in a row, we started to ask ourselves: what are we trying to do?� Chris Gould, chair of the task force, said.��It�s not about the recognition. It�s about doing the right thing for Sarnia and the County of Lambton.�People from �all walks of life� are invited to the first two forums, Feb. 5 at the Royal Canadian Legion in Wyoming and Feb. 7 at the Western Sarnia-Lambton Research Park, near Lambton College. A third event, also at the Research Park, will be held Feb. 13 for community leaders and municipal staff as well as leaders from indigenous nations in the Sarnia-Lambton area.Hosting two of the three forums near Lambton College is fitting. In early January the college�announced it would lean into applied IT research�with a new Information Technology Communication Research Centre, later doubling down on that announcement�with a strategic plan�focused on the future, and specifically, future technology.The college is a core part of Sarnia-Lambton�s annual application, Gould said, and its recent success has helped thrust the area into the spotlight.�At the heart of every intelligent community is a major academic institution,� Gould said. �And almost every one has a university at its core . . . but the landscape of education is changing. In today�s world, colleges are becoming more and more leaders in education.�Two people from the college � Andrea Hands, research development and outreach manager, and Medhi Sheikhzadeh, dean of applied research and innovation � sit on the 12-person task force. Other task force members are from Sarnia, Lambton County, Western Research Park, and a number of other smaller community groups and businesses.One of more than 400 communities to apply last year, Sarnia-Lambton could be named a Top7 community at the Intelligent Community Forum�s annual winter conference Feb. 11, in Quebec City. Applications were graded on their economic, cultural, and social competitiveness.Canada is usually well-represented on the Top21 list, this year by Abbotsford, Greater Victoria, Sarnia-Lambton, and Winnipeg. Those names are only picked from applications, not from all cities worldwide.The goal is to become a Top7 Intelligent Community for the first time, Gould said. The task force could hold another public event if they are named at the February forum.�We�ll probably do an outreach event if we�re successful,� Gould said.��It�s a pretty incredible feat (to be in the conversation). We�re honoured.�lpin@postmedia.comIf You Go (Lambton County)What: Strategic Planning SessionPlace: Royal Canadian Legion, WyomingWhen: Feb. 5Time: 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.Cost: FreeIf You Go (Sarnia)What: Strategic Planning SessionPlace: Western Sarnia-Lambton Research ParkWhen: Feb. 7Time: 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.Cost: Free
