Mayor Bloomberg gave his annual state of the city speech today at Brooklyn College rather than the usual venue, City Hall, and highlighted a number of programs and plans for NYC during the remainder of his term, including a number of tech initiatives such as providing additional seed funding to high-tech startups by partnering with angel investors to increase the available funding from $40 to $50 million.
Other tech-focused initiatives planned are:
- Expanded 311 service for public school parents with "Parent Connect" which will allow easy access to admissions and transportation information as well as allow parents to track their child's progress
- New technologies to fight crime such as a computer database to help the NYPD step up home interventions, deploy surveillance cameras in the three precincts with the highest murder rates, use GPS technologies to keep gang members out of public housing, deploy additional license plate readers, test new software that detects suspicious movements on surveillance cameras, take Notify NYC emergency communications program citywide, and unify the Fire and Police dispatch systems.
- Improving the ability of local IT firms to compete for NYC contracts
- Enabling online applications to NYC's Business Express Web site which facilitates licenses and permits for those who seek to start a business
- Pairing academic institutions that see value in creating incubator space for new startups with landlords that have vacant space
- Consolidating the city's 55 data centers
- Activate online forms for seniors applying for rent exemptions
- Increase the availability of computers in 100 libraries, senior centers, public housing community rooms, and other city facilities
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