City invites tech community to propose and test new solutions to modernize public infrastructure, support neighborhood development, and bridge the digital divide<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
NEW YORK<\/b>\u2014 Mayor Bill de Blasio, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, Deputy Mayor Alicia Glen, and Chief Technology Officer Miguel Gami\u00f1o, Jr. announced the launch of applications inviting startups, entrepreneurs and independent teams to propose tech solutions that address priority needs in the neighborhood of Brownsville, Brooklyn.<\/p>\n
NYCx, the world\u2019s first municipal program to transform urban spaces into hubs for tech collaboration, research, testing and development was announced last week and will utilize Moonshot and Co-Lab Challenges to engage the tech industry to solve real-world problems and help the City advance its goals to be the most fair, equitable and sustainable city in the world.<\/p>\n
\u201cTechnology is an inescapable, critical part of our lives and the future of our communities,\u201d said\u00a0Mayor Bill de Blasio<\/b>. \u201cNow, more than ever New York must take a leadership role in shaping a future that protects our values, strengthens inclusiveness and equity of our communities and presents a model of leadership for other cities around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNYCx represents an important step forward in spurring economic development while addressing the critical needs of our neighborhoods,\u201d said\u00a0Deputy Mayor for Housing and Economic Development Alicia Glen<\/b>. \u201cThis program allows New Yorkers to benefit from the opportunities that come with advancements in the tech ecosystem and confirms that NYC is the global capital of innovation.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re proud of the work that we\u2019ve done with community leaders to identify their needs and to develop the NYCx Co-Lab challenges,\u201d said\u00a0Miguel Gami\u00f1o, Jr., Chief Technology Officer<\/b>\u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s been truly collaborative, and NYCx Co-Labs is an evolution of our efforts and will benefit all New Yorkers as we expand this program to all five boroughs.\u201d<\/p>\n
The NYCx Co-Labs\u00a0<\/b>are neighborhood-based partnership to co-design a set of challenges and make neighborhood spaces available for testing new technologies aiming to address the neighborhood\u2019s more pressing needs.<\/p>\n
In Brownsville, Brooklyn, community partners and local youth are advising the City on areas of opportunity where technologies can play a role in improving neighborhood quality of life and local economic development.<\/p>\n
Challenge respondents have until December 15, 2017 to submit proposals for solutions. Winners will receive funding, access to urban infrastructure and support from City agencies to deploy solutions in Brownsville neighborhood spaces in 2018.<\/p>\n
The first Co-Lab Challenge:\u00a0Safe and Thriving Night Corridors<\/i>\u00a0was developed in partnership with the Mayor\u2019s Office of the Chief Technology Officer (MOCTO), NYC Mayor\u2019s Office of Criminal Justice (MOCJ) and the the NYC Department of Transportation (DOT) and calls for creative solutions to enhance public experience, encourage use of public spaces during evening hours, and increase night activity and community safety while boosting economic, civic and cultural opportunity for neighborhood residents. Selected proposals will receive up to $20,000 in funding to test solutions in the Belmont Avenue Business Corridor.<\/p>\n
The second Co-Lab Challenge:\u00a0Zero Waste in Shared Space<\/i>\u00a0was developed in partnership with the Mayor\u2019s Office of the Chief Technology Officer (MOCTO), NYC Department of Sanitation (DSNY) and the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) and calls for creative solutions that increase resident participation in recycling and waste-reduction opportunities while reducing trash and litter in the common areas in public housing.\u00a0 Selected proposals will receive up to $20,000 in funding to test solutions at Brownsville Houses, one of the larger public housing developments in the Brownsville.<\/p>\n
The City also announced that the NYCx Co-Labs program will expand to all five boroughs in 2018.<\/p>\n
Today\u2019s announcement marks a milestone in the City\u2019s tech equity efforts in Brownsville that started with the Neighborhood Innovation Labs, an initiative launched in March 2017 as part of the Brownsville Plan that brought together communities, government, educators, and technologists to research, develop and demonstrate solutions to improve quality of life and enhance city services. Neighborhood Innovation Labs are a public-private partnership led by the Mayor\u2019s Office of the Chief Technology Officer, New York City Economic Development Corporation, and NYU\u2019s Center for Urban Science and Progress. Brownsville Community Justice Center serves as the lead community partner for the City\u2019s first Neighborhood Innovation Lab in Osborn Plaza.<\/p>\n
“I believe wholeheartedly in the incredible untapped potential of Brownsville, and I believe in the potential of neighborhood solutions that can be fostered through collaboration with our friends in the tech community,\u201d said\u00a0Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams<\/b>. \u201cMy administration is a proud partner at the NYCx Brownsville Co-Lab, an unprecedented initiative that is harnessing innovation to tackle long-standing challenges that impact residents on a day-to-day basis. We need better answers to issues such as addressing pervasive waste at public housing developments and promoting safe nightlife activity. As a native of Brownsville, I am particularly proud that my community will be the birthplace for innovative local tech solutions that may have global applications.”<\/p>\n
\u201cNew York City’s tech ecosystem is constantly evolving to meet new economic and urban challenges. We are thrilled to collaborate on NYCX, which will continue to strengthen our urban tech sector,\u00a0create good jobs for New Yorkers, and\u00a0improve\u00a0the quality of life in neighborhoods across the city,\u201d said\u00a0NYCEDC President and CEO James Patchett<\/b>.<\/p>\n
\u201cAcross our city, neighborhood-based enhancements like public plazas have combined with simpler improvements like brighter LED lighting to improve the quality of life in great neighborhoods like Brownsville,\u201d said\u00a0NYC DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg<\/b>. \u201cAs City Hall comes to Brooklyn this week, DOT is excited to join other agencies in inviting creative technological\u00a0<\/b>solutions to support a thriving Belmont Avenue, and consider new additions to our agency\u2019s toolkit for improving our city\u2019s streets and public spaces.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Department of Sanitation is pleased to be co-sponsoring the Zero Waste in Shared Spacechallenge with our partners at the New York City Housing Authority,\u201d said\u00a0Kathryn Garcia, Commissioner of the Department of Sanitation<\/b>. \u201cIn order to achieve our ambitious goal of sending zero waste to landfills by 2030, we will need a new generation of creative thinkers to propose scalable solutions that deliver on the needs of New York City\u2019s diverse communities.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is an exciting partnership between the community, government and the tech sector \u2013\u00a0which will be a powerful force\u00a0to address local needs in Brownsville,\u201d said\u00a0Elizabeth Glazer, Director of the Mayor\u2019s Office of Criminal Justice<\/b>. \u201cWhen it comes to how to make our cities safer and more livable, we count on our local partners to guide us. We can\u2019t wait to see the ideas that spring out of this initiative.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOne in every 14 New Yorkers lives in a NYCHA apartment and they all deserve to live in healthy buildings equipped with sustainable technology, \u201csaid\u00a0NYCHA General Manager Michael Kelly<\/b>. \u201cOur NextGen NYCHA strategic plan demands that we create safe, clean and connected communities and the Mayor\u2019s Zero Waste in Shared Space challenge\u00a0in\u00a0Brownsville Houses\u00a0goes hand in hand with that commitment. This is an exciting next step towards environmental justice and equity for all New Yorkers.\u201d<\/p>\n
“The NYCx Co-Lab in Brownsville creates an unprecedented opportunity for researchers to work directly with residents to understand and address problems most important to the community,” said\u00a0Constantine E. Kontokosta, PhD, PE, Assistant Professor of Urban Informatics and Director of the Urban Intelligence Lab at NYU CUSP and NYU School of Engineering<\/b>. “By building on the lessons from our Quantified Community research initiative, we hope to show how data can be used to help communities become empowered to take action based on rigorous, evidenced-based analysis of what civic technologies and urban innovations work best for them.”<\/p>\n
\u201cNYCx Co-Labs is bringing together government, tech and community to help neighborhoods like Brownsville, and I\u2019m thrilled to be part of the effort,\u201d said\u00a0Russell Simmons, Chairman and CEO, Rush Communications and member of NYCx Technology Leadership Council<\/b>. \u201cThe NYCx Co-Lab Challenges are an amazing way to engage innovators to help communities with real needs.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re always looking for new ways to be involved in solving civic challenges,\u201d said\u00a0Ben Fried, CIO, Google and member of NYCx Technology Leadership Council<\/b>. \u201cNYCx is the perfect catalyst to generate the next great idea and technology breakthrough that could benefit all New Yorkers and support the growth of tech opportunities in NYC.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAll over our city, from Brownsville to Harlem and in between, there are opportunities to use technology more thoughtfully and inclusively\u2014to enhance safety, advance equity, and drive economic development,\u201d said\u00a0Clayton Banks, Co-founder and CEO of Silicon Harlem and member of NYCx Technology Leadership Council<\/b>. \u201cNew York City residents care about the same things: safe public spaces for families and children, jobs and economic opportunities, and vibrant cultural life.\u00a0 Our Silicon Harlem team is excited about neighborhood-based partnerships such as the NYCx Co-Labs, because we\u2019re directly involving the community to identify and address some of the most pervasive challenges of urban living.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIn an ever increasingly technological world, we must do all we can to ensure New York stays up-to-date and technologically competitive, said\u00a0NYC Council Member Rafael Espinal (East New York, Bushwick, Brownsville)<\/b>. \u201cThere is no place better than Brownsville, Brooklyn, which for so long has been denied the investments it deserves, to be the site of these investments and our city\u2019s future innovation.”<\/p>\n
State Senator Jesse Hamilton<\/b>\u00a0said, \u201cWe need public and private sector cooperation to act as a spur to inclusivity and innovation in tech. Founding the first tech and wellness hub at a public housing site in the United States last year in Brownsville alongside, City, State, and community partners, advanced that vision. This announcement today of NYCx Co-Labs is a welcome step further. Community-based engagement with the tech sector will help both technologists and neighborhood residents innovate and include more voices in guiding that innovation. I welcome this investment in exploring new solutions and engaging all New Yorkers in finding those solutions.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBrownsville Community Justice Center has been at the forefront of the community-led revitalization of Belmont Avenue,\u201d said\u00a0James Brodick, Executive Director of the Brownsville Community Justice Center<\/b>. \u201cTo all of us at the Justice Center, and the young people in Brownsville who we serve, we see a vital connection that links how economic opportunities that are available to Brownsville residents in their own neighborhood lead to a safer and more secure neighborhood.\u00a0 Our part of the collective work to transform Belmont Avenue into an engine of economic opportunity has revolved around our stewardship of Osborn Plaza and making visible change in public space.\u00a0 We see a great need and opportunity to address the way our public spaces make people feel safe and secure at all hours of the day and night. The next great frontier for making visible change at Osborn Plaza and Belmont Avenue is transforming how those spaces function to create a livelier Brownsville at night.\u00a0 We are looking forward to working with the City and the technology community to accelerate progress on how next-generation urban infrastructure can play a transformative role in that quest to unlock Brownsville at night.\u00a0 As the lead partners of NYCx Co-Labs in Brownsville, the conveners of the Brownsville Community Technology Advisory Board, and the City\u2019s partner on the Young Innovators Program, we exemplify our focus on both immediate, visible change as well as long-term community wealth-building.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Fund for Public Housing has long recognized the potential for an urban technology revolution that begins with the needs of public housing residents,\u201d said\u00a0Rasmia Kirmani-Frye, President of the Fund for Public Housing and Director of NYCHA\u2019s Office for Public Private Partnerships<\/b>.\u00a0 \u201cAs an independent non-profit constituted to support the needs and potential of the public housing community in New York City, our partnership with the New York City Housing Authority is strategically focused on initiatives where the potential for innovation is high.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Working collaboratively alongside NYCx Co-Labs will only accelerate that potential.\u00a0 The Co-Lab Challenge for Zero Waste in Shared Space acknowledges that the key to the smart city is the power of collective action, and aims to co-create with NYCHA residents the people-centered transformation of urban waste systems.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201c3 Black Cats Cafe was founded by three sisters who love baking, love Brownsville, and want to support every effort to increase entrepreneurial opportunities in the neighborhood, to give more people the chance to turn their passion into their source of economic security and well-being,\u201d\u00a0 said\u00a0Iona Jimenez, Co-owner of 3 Black Cats Cafe<\/b>.\u00a0 \u201cWe participated in steering the tech challenge to create an attractive and safe nighttime experience on Belmont Avenue because we recognize how much people in Brownsville want to enjoy neighborhood spaces like ours to meet their friends and loved ones for a delicious dinner or to see the talented musicians and artists of Brownsville. We know many people in our neighborhood that have the potential to be the next wave of great hospitality entrepreneurs on Belmont Avenue. Let\u2019s inspire them by building the future of the 24-hour city right here in Brownsville.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBrownsville is here.\u00a0 We are at the vanguard of place-making and urban tech, and we are open for business,\u201d said\u00a0Mary Tobin, Executive Director of Brownsville Partnership<\/b>. \u201cBrownsville Partnership is leading on a number of local initiatives to leverage the power of smart infrastructure to benefit local businesses, and maximize local job creation. In the week ahead, as we celebrate our Hope Summit and execute a mammoth volunteer effort to install solar-powered, sensor-triggered smart lights on Belmont Avenue storefronts, we recognize that there is no better time to accelerate the progress that the neighborhood\u2019s social enterprises have been achieving in making Brownsville a safe, livable place.\u00a0 As members of the Brownsville Community Technology Advisory Board, and partners to NYCx Co-Labs in the development of the Co-Lab Challenges, we are are looking forward to ushering in a new era for the smart neighborhood, right here in Brownsville.\u201d<\/p>\n
“Young residents of Brownsville continue to exercise their collective agency by shaping the space outside of their doors,\u201d said\u00a0Quardean Lewis-Allen, Founder of Made in Brownsville<\/b>. \u201cTake a walk down Belmont Ave and you\u2019ll find evidence that we are rich with art. Go to Osborn Plaza and you\u2019ll see how local partners supported Brownsville’s young creatives with the opportunity to design an environment that celebrates unity. Now, as a member of the Brownsville Community Technology Advisory Board and as a partner to NYCx Co-Labs, Made in Brownsville is looking forward to facilitating young Brownsville designers to contribute their creative voices to the collaborations emerging around smart city technologies in Brownsville. NYCx Co-Labs are generating a dialogue inclusive of many voices in Brownsville and we believe the launch of the first Co-Lab Challenges is a moment to celebrate a new era at the intersection of culture, environmental design, and urban tech.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pernell Brice III, Executive Director of The Dream Big Foundation, said:\u00a0<\/b>\u201cThe Dream Big Foundation is proud to be among the organizations that have partnered with NYCx Co-Labs in Brownsville.\u00a0 From our vantage point as the neighborhood\u2019s first business incubator of its kind, we know that Brownsville is on its way to becoming a haven for tech entrepreneurship and that our entrepreneurs are aiming to solve meaningful problems that can be solved nowhere else. Dream Big is a member of the Brownsville Community Technology Advisory Board and it has truly been an eye-opening experience to learn how the City is aligning its resources and using its convening power to shift the research and development process of the technologies that will increasingly become foundational to urban life. The main thrust of NYCx Co-Labs seems to be diversifying the spaces and communities where this research and development is happening.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
City invites tech community to propose and test new solutions to modernize public infrastructure, support neighborhood development, and bridge the digital divide NEW YORK\u2014 Mayor Bill de Blasio, Brooklyn Borough […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5887,"featured_media":960,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-959","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features"],"yoast_head":"\n