JAMES "CHIP" COTTRELL

"Fighting Bots, Big Data & Fake News"

Our February speaker, James, “Chip” Cottrell, will talk about the efforts of international organizations to tackle the global issues created by new technologies including AI, big data and efforts by Russia and other countries to weaponize “fake news”. Through Stockholm University’s eGovLab, Chip is currently an advisor to Co-Inform, a European Union funded effort to develop tools to counter the efforts of certain nations to expand their influence abroad through the spread of misinformation.  He will update us on efforts to create tools to help citizens, journalists and policymakers  counter the effects of misinformation. 

Chip serves as a senior advisor on ethics and integrity matters for a range of international organizations including the UN, the B20, and the World Economic Forum. Currently focused on ethics issues surrounding AI, cyber security and analytics, he is a recognized leader in international ethics, corporate governance and compliance issues. He is a frequent lecturer in academia and board rooms around the world.

Chip began his career as a “Big Four” audit staffer and is a retired  partner of Deloitte where he last served as the firm’s Global Chief Ethics Officer.  Today, he is a Director in the Washington, DC office of Holland & Knight, a Miami-based international law firm and is also an affiliated professor at Stockholm University. But, along the way, he was a founder or senior executive of several technology companies and international non-profits – most of which are or were based here in Central Virginia. He has lived and/or worked in the Americas, Africa, Middle East, Europe as well as Asia and has called Richmond home for over 25 years.

OUR HOST

1420 N. Parham Road

Many encorepreneurs remember when Regency Square was THE retail mall in Richmond, and several long-tiime Richmond real estate veterans are bringing it back. Co-managers of Recency's new ownership are Rob Hargett, a Partner at The Rebkee Company (Rebkee) and Mark Slusher, Senior Vice President with Thalhimer Realty Partners, Inc. (TRP). Rob and Mark are excited to bring a new look, a new shopping experience and the best possible retailers to the Tuckahoe area over the next few years.  

The most significant features of the $30 million project is the construction of a new signature entrance from Quioccasin Road and the creation of an exterior façade of stores facing outward instead of the current configuration which orients all stores inward. The master plan provides for almost 44,000 SF of new retail development, a 12,000 SF two level retail building with rooftop dining, and four outparcel development sites.  The effort is off to a good start with the addition of Chipotle, MOD Pizza, and the repuposing of the former Bank of AMerica building into an environmentally conscious Starbucks.  

You will find easy access and parking since the center has worked in concert with Henrico County  to demolish the Quioccasin Road flyover which passed over one of the mall’s entrances, and the parking deck has been removed to increase visibility and create an opportunity for outside entertainment and dining.