ICA Community News Conference Preps It was 50 years ago that Finland participated as a founding ICA member to the inaugural conference in Edinburgh of August 1968. Ten years later they hosted their first ICA conference in Helsinki, to be followed by a second one in 1998. And here we are once again, honored to visit Helsinki for the 52nd ICA Conference marking a special anniversary one for Finland and for ICA. It was a busy 2 days in Helsinki as the Board and Programme Committee members met with the hosting country committee members working hard on ensuring this is a conference not to forget! Venues and programme where reviewed and finalized as the hosting country shared developments on the conference preparations. Member Updates These past few months brought quite a few changes to our community. We bid sad farewells to Reay Atkinson and Peter Hearson who passed away in recent months. Their contribution to ICA was valuable, from the Organization’s founding years to their continuous involvement throughout the years. May they never be forgotten. And from saddening farewells to “Mondays will never be the same again” for Marj Akerley and Jennifer Dawson who have officially retired from the public sector. We are certain the Canadian government is just as heartbroken to see you go as we are! However, we welcome Marc Brouillard , who will be assuming the role of Deputy National Representative for Canada. We hope to meet you in September! Last but not least Singapore is also seeing some changes on their Nationals’ front. After four years of very active service to ICA, Joseph Yew joined us in Helsinki earlier this month for a smooth transition and handover of his Programme Committee and Board post duties as he will be joining the private sector at the end of this month. Soon Cheng Goh is the new National Representative for Singapore but also a new member to our Programme Committee. She joins us with enriched background experience but also great enthusiasm to contribute. Soon Cheng, we look forward to working with you while we wish Joseph all the best in his new endeavours! Stepping in Joseph’s Vice Chair role to contribute until the next annual Council elections is Magnus Enzell from Sweden. Conference Theme - Related Articles In his recent article, ICA Life member Frank McDonough, presents a short overview of Artificial Intelligence and looks at how some governments are at the front door of AI and considering whether and how to step in. Read the full article titled “Are you hyped about the Artificial Intelligence hype?” Frank has also served as ICA Chair and has represented the United States as an ICA National Representative. In case you missed it Frank McDonough, authored the book “Spring Training for the Major Leagues in Government,” and shared advice for incoming political appointees during this interview.
