Mayor Bloomberg Releases Update to Digital Roadmap, Plan to Ensure New York City Remains a Leading Global Digital City

October 18, 2013

With 100 Percent of Original Initiatives Complete, Plan Identifies New Opportunities for Digital Growth in Internet Access, Education, Open Data, Engagement and Industry

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Commissioner Katherine L. Oliver and Chief Digital Officer Rachel Haot today released New York City’s Digital Leadership: 2013 Roadmap, an update to the City’s plan for realizing New York City’s digital potential through 40 initiatives in infrastructure, education, open data, engagement and industry. With all 40 of the original initiatives now achieved, the report identifies new opportunities to build on current progress and exchange knowledge with other digitally focused cities around the world. Mayor Bloomberg first introduced the Digital Roadmap in May 2011, with a commitment to provide annual updates on progress. In order to develop the concepts for the “Looking Ahead” section of the Roadmap, the City convened listening sessions and received online feedback people across the five boroughs. New ideas include the deployment of more Wi-Fi hotspots in locations such as payphones, implementing infrastructure sensors, continuing digital education and professional development for adults, updates to the City’s 311 APP, a personalized online dashboard of City services and the expansion of the City’s technology internship program to further increase diversity in the sector.

“New York City’s position as a leading digital city has been strengthened over the past few years with the successful implementation of the initiatives laid out in the Digital Roadmap,” said Mayor Bloomberg. “The foundation is now in place for future Administrations to take advantage of whatever technology comes next. It’s vital to our City’s economy that we support and promote technology and help New Yorkers gain access to higher learning opportunities and jobs in this growing sector.”

“Through the creation of NYC Digital, the position of Chief Digital Officer and the release of the Digital Roadmap, the City of New York continues to stay innovative in the digital age,” said Commissioner Katherine Oliver, Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment. “Working with the tech community and building on public-private partnerships have brought new ideas and strategies to the City, and as the update to the Roadmap lays out, there is even more innovation to be achieved in the future.”

“Investing in digital development is critical to the future of New York City, and the new opportunities presented in the Roadmap will help us to build on progress to date and raise the bar even higher. We are grateful for Mayor Bloomberg’s leadership and visions, and to the thousands of individuals across New York City’s technology community and government who made it possible to achieve the 40 Roadmap initiatives and establish our City as a platform for innovation,” said Chief Digital Officer Rachel Haot. “Our work is far from over, but thanks to this partnership of so many, New York City’s future has never been brighter.”

In 2011, Mayor Bloomberg introduced New York City’s first Digital Roadmap. Less than three years later, with 100% of initial objectives complete, New York City’s Digital Leadership, the latest update to the Roadmap, demonstrates the strides the City has made to date, driven by investments in infrastructure, education, open government, online engagement and technology sector support. Highlights include:

• Enabling 300,000 low-income residents to access the Internet and adopt service since the introduction of the first Digital Roadmap,
• Launching over 40 digital learning programs that have served over one million New Yorkers to date, including Cornell Tech NYC on Roosevelt Island,
• Expanding the NYC OpenData platform from 350 public data sets offered at launch to over 2,000,
• Relaunching a groundbreaking NYC.gov website and tripling the City’s social media audience,
• Growing the City’s technology sector to over 1,000 Made in NY technology companies.

The new NYC.gov, which recently launched, anticipates user needs based on traffic and search data, responds to requests with improved search results, serves users with improved digital customer service functionality, informs New Yorkers of important news and programs and engages visitors through a fully responsive website on any device and digital screen.

The 2013 New York City’s Digital Leadership also includes ideas and recommendations that look to the future of the City’s position as a global digital leader, including how the City can work with local companies to increase the number of women and minorities in the tech sector. New ideas include the deployment of more Wi-Fi hotspots in locations such as payphones, implementing infrastructure sensors, continuing digital education and professional development for adults, updates to the City’s 311 API, a personalized online dashboard of City services and the expansion of the City’s technology internship program to further increase diversity in the sector. These recommendations were gathered through social media, public listening sessions and presentations that took place across New York City. To read New York City’s Digital Leadership: 2013 Roadmap in full, visit NYC.gov.

In 2011, Mayor Bloomberg and Media & Entertainment Commissioner Oliver created NYC Digital with a mission to streamline the way government communicates online with the public and support economic development of the digital sector. NYC Digital is part of the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment, which consists of the Office of Film, Theatre and Broadcasting; NYC Digital and NYC Media—the official TV, radio and online network of the City of New York.

Contact:

Marc La Vorgna/Julie Wood (212) 788-2958

Marybeth Ihle (MOME) (212) 669-7742