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THE FOUNDATION OF A DIGITAL CITY is the connectivity of its citizens. Access to the Internet serves crucial functions in New York City. From a civic perspective, it exposes individuals to a wealth of information and new opportunities to participate in democracy, nurturing a more informed, engaged citizenry. From an academic perspective, it provides access to invaluable research sources and trains students to use tools throughout their careers. And from an economic perspective, as nearly every industry is touched by digital technology, it equips citizens to innovate, add value to their organizations, develop new companies, and create and fill jobs.
The City of New York is already one of the most connected cities on earth, with 98% broadband connectivity in residences. DOITT leads the City connectivity strategy, and is responsible for both private sector agreements and municipal programs to expand access. By working with public and private sector resources, DOITT will provide access and training to more than 85,000 high-needs New Yorkers, including students and seniors.
PUBLIC SPACES
As a result of recent franchise agreements brokered by DOITT, private sector carriers have agreed to develop infrastructure to support wireless Internet access in selected public spaces such as parks.
NETWORK CHOICE
Additionally, DOITT is working to ensure that all New Yorkers have vendor choice for their broadband carrier, enabled in part by the expansion of a citywide FIOS network.
SUMMARY
The City will focus efforts strategically, making the best possible use of federal funds and private sector agreements to achieve the following:
- Access at home and in schools for 18,000 high needs sixth graders and their families-roughly 40,000 in total
- Enhanced senior centers
- Wi-Fi in City parks and other selected public places
- Citywide fios connectivity, ensuring all residents have choices for who provides their Internet access.
- Federally funded broadband connectivity in schools, libraries and recreation centers
CONNECTING STUDENTS - AT HOME AND AT SCHOOL
To help connect more New Yorkers, the City will start by serving students from 72 high-need public middle schools in New York City. Led by DOITT, doe and community partners, and funded by the Broadband Technologies Opportunity Program (btop), the NYC Connected Learning project will provide training, computers, technical support, educational software, and broadband access service for five years to more than 18,000 low-income sixth-graders and their families, serving approximately 40,000 New Yorkers altogether. The project will also work with teachers to integrate technology into their lesson plans in order to more deeply link classroom and home broadband technology adoption.
Separately, DOITT and doe's Connected Foundations project will serve over 5,000 transfer school students between the ages of 12 and 16 who are over-age and under-credited. Prior to re-engaging their education in a transfer school, these students struggled academically, were not on track to graduate, and may have been truant or thinking about dropping out of school. Students in this program will be required to complete a 54 hour postsecondary skills and broadband training curriculum before receiving a computer.
CONNECTING COMMUNITIES
The NYC Connected Communities project managed by DOITT and a diverse group of anchor institutions, including the City's three public library systems, nycha, Parks & Recreation and Department for the Aging will provide access and training for individuals who lack digital literacy, including seniors and limited-English groups, with a focus on high-poverty areas such as Harlem and the South Bronx. The project plans to upgrade community centers and add new ones, supporting over 1,000 workstations. It will also increase training availability at centers around the City to provide basic skills and improve quality of life. The project will also increase broadband speeds at the public library systems, offer nycha residents broadband connections and increase connection at Parks locations as well as extended hours of coverage. In total, The City estimates over 44,500 individuals will be trained through NYC Connected Communities.
MTA
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, a public benefit corporation controlled by State government, has indicated it is developing infrastructure to provide wireless Internet and carrier neutral cellular service in six underground subway stations. Following the evaluation of this pilot program, it plans to expand service to all 277 underground stations. The initiative is at no cost to taxpayers and constituents.
PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS FOR CONNECTIVITY
The City of New York will continue to explore partnerships with the private sector to help bridge the digital divide through broadband connectivity. Learning from the success of existing partnerships such as the Cornerstone Initiative in New York City Housing Authority residences supported by Time Warner Cable, the City will provide further opportunities for the private sector to invest in the City's future.
EDUCATION
In order for New York City to remain a leader of innovation, students must have the opportunity not only to access the Internet, but to learn the languages and skills necessary to shape it. The Department of Education will continue to support educational programs and partnerships that teach technology skills that have transformative long-term results for our children, academic institutions, and economy.
PUBLIC LIBRARIES
Public libraries play a vital role in providing Internet access and technology training to New Yorkers. Today, all locations of the Brooklyn Public Library, New York Public Library (nypl), and Queens Library systems offer wireless Internet access.
Libraries are especially crucial in providing Internet access to low-income households, immigrants, and youths. The 2010 report "Opportunity for All," by the Institute of Museum and Library Services and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, found that 44% of people in households below the poverty line, and half of teenagers, used libraries to access the Internet and find information in 2009.
In addition, all New York City public library systems offer job search services and training to clients, such as "Computer Basics for Persons with Visual Impairment" at nypl's Hamilton Fish Public Library, bpl's Skills Training & Employment Project (step), and English language classes in the Queens Library Adult Learner Program. nypl has reported that its classes in computer basics for seniors-on how to conduct online searches, set up email accounts, even 'Facebook 101' courses-frequently fill to capacity.
The libraries also provide a wide array of digital media to clients. nypl has indicated that its future digital offerings include access to its collections and content on mobile devices.
Computer's for Public Use
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DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY ENABLES UNPRECEDENTED TRANSPARENCY through its ability to open government information and processes to greater public participation. DOITT has long been a champion of transparency and Open Government, maintaining the NYC DataMine and partnering with EDC to launch the successful developer challenge, NYC Big Apps.
The City of New York will build on this success by embracing the opportunity to become the world's most comprehensively Open Government. Using technology to enable even greater access to information and services, the City of New York, led by DOITT, will create a powerful NYC Platform that supports innovation, efficiency, and economic growth. This infrastructure will unlock the City's wealth of information resources and make them accessible to citizens, technologists, and government employees. As a result, NYC government will be more transparent, efficient, innovative, accessible, and citizen-centric.
Key to this platform will be open standards and taxonomies shared at the agency, local, State, Federal, and international levels, in order to maximize government interoperability and efficiency. The system will be developed in phases by DOITT's expert enterprise software team and private sectors partners, and will provide real-time, bidirectional information feeds through an Application Programming Interface, or api. An api is a set of programming instructions and rules for accessing web-based applications. An api enables different software programs to communicate with each other, supporting an ecosystem of tools and features powered by the application.
Software companies and public institutions alike typically release their apis to the public so that other software developers can design products that are powered by its services, thus further leveraging the investment made in the service.
THE TENETS OF NYC OPEN GOVERNMENT
ODC and DOITT have identified the following strategic goals that will guide our definition and implementation of open government in New York City:
- Open Government democratizes the exchange of information and public services, inviting all citizens to participate and engage.
- Open Government connects citizens to one another, supporting more efficient collaborative production of services over the traditional mode of citizen consumption of government-produced services.
- Open Government information is more valuable when it is collected at the source, and published in near-real-time.
- Open Government data is machine-processable.
- Open Government invites all information consumers- inside and outside government - to correct, improve, and augment data.
- Open Government uses open standards, formats, APIs, licenses, and taxonomies.
- Open Government is accountable and transparent, perpetually self-evaluating, iterating, and exploring new ways to solve old problems.
- Open Government makes as much information as possible available to as many actors as possible and is designed to minimize financial and technological barriers to accessibility.
- Open Government enables efficiency, cost savings, and the streamlining of government services.
- Open Government is compatible, nimble, and mashable, fostering collaboration, coordination, and innovation with other governments, academic institutions, and organizations.
OVERVIEW
The City's information technology and telecommunications agency DOITT has already begun work to make agency data and 311 information available to technology developers through a set of apis. In parallel with this effort, DOITT will continue its phased effort to help City agencies explore the feasibility of implementing compatible internal structures that seamlessly and securely share information using web services.
INTERNALThrough its CITIServ initiative, DOITT has started to lay the groundwork to modernize and optimize the City's IT infrastructure environment, by consolidating disparate data centers and providing a unified set of shared services to a broad range of City entities. There are significant challenges to this process, as many agencies rely on legacy technology infrastructure to support their operations, and overhauling these systems will require significant investment. DOITT will continue development of its web services infrastructure and evaluate technology governance rules to ensure that going forward, agency data will be stored and shared in a manner consistent with the architecture.
EXTERNAL: NYC PLATFORM
DOITT and its partners will develop the NYC Platform in four stages to allow continuous deployment and iteration.
PHASE I
Implement a DataMine api that allows developers to access over 350 data sets provided on the NYC DataMine. These data sets include a range of raw and geographic data that is interesting and important to New Yorkers, such as the following:
- Alternate Side Parking, Schools, and Sanitation Collection Status
- Citywide Events and Festivals
- City News Feeds
- Parking Facilities
- Restaurant Inspection Results
- Privately Owned Public Spaces
- Active Building Jobs
- Property Assessments and Valuations
- 311 Taxi Complaints
- Directory of Dog Runs
- Fire and Police Geographic Districts
- Green Market Locations
- FDNY Monthly Response Times
- NYC Truck Routes
- Wi-Fi HotSpot Locations
- Map of Playgrounds
- Bicycle Parking Locations
- Tree Census
- Art Gallery Locations
- Subway Entrances
DOITT will also unveil data visualization tools as part of the first Phase of the NYC Platform. Finally, DOITT will establish new processes for receiving, evaluating, and integrating improved data from the public into the NYC Platform.
PHASE II
Introduce a pilot 311 API that makes 311 information accessible to developers who can integrate 311 services into their products and offerings. Two-thirds of 311 requests are resolved by simply providing information or directing citizens to the correct resources to resolve their complaint. Expanding the reach of 311 information through API technology has the potential to enable faster resolution of service complaints at scale and generate cost savings.
The 311 api also aims to lessen the burden on the traditional call center, decreasing wait times. There are, of course, significant challenges to this effort, as porting a human process to a technological format will require extensive testing and customization. For these reasons, the 311 api will be a pilot program in its initial stage.
The specifications for this api will be open and shared, and DOITT will work with additional government and civic technology organizations to ensure interoperability with similar national efforts. A shared set of shared taxonomies and standards for 311 and other government data and services will support a growing ecosystem of independently developed applications that enable greater civic engagement.
PHASE III
Augment the 311 api with both "Read" and "Write" capabilities, meaning that information can move in both directions: to the citizen ("read") and from the citizen ("write"). This means that in addition to providing real-time information through the api and the ecosystem it supports, the City can receive service requests and input from any of the tools built using its api. The result will be significantly enhanced capacity to take in more citizen service requests, gaining valuable information that will be used to improve the City of New York.
LOOKING FORWARD: FUTURE PHASES OF DEVELOPMENT
As DOITT progresses in its CITIServ consolidation process and continues to modernize individual agency data storage, it will evaluate the ability to integrate the NYC Platform more deeply with agency data, right at the source. Some of the concepts to be explored as part of this phase include the ability to directly access real-time agency data as well as the content of nyc.gov. Again, there are substantial hurdles to this effort, including but not limited to staffing constraints and costly legacy systems and infrastructure that must be carefully considered.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
New York's Open Government and entrepreneurial technology communities will play an important role in the development of the NYC Platform. NYC Digital and DOITT have already begun to engage local Open Government groups in fact-gathering processes to determine the most requested improvements to New York City's Open Data initiatives.
Going forward, NYC Digital and DOITT will continue to work with developers and advocates to respond to needs and collaboratively craft a shared strategy. Specifically, the City will launch a NYC Platform hub for the software developer community, providing the ability to:
- Find sample code and clear NYC Platform API documentation
- Add to developer wishlists
- Review agency and citizen wishlists for ideas and challenge bounties
- Submit comments and feedback
- Participate in discussion forums
- Learn about upcoming workshops, developer days, and "code sprints"
- Discover existing "apps" built on New York City data
BENEFITS
The launch of the NYC Platform api will have far-reaching impact, enabling innovation, transparency, economic growth, and improved service. As an illustration, the following are several of the benefits that the Open Government framework of NYC Platform will enable:
- An ecosystem of tools and talent based on New York City public information
- The creation of robust applications that serve New Yorkers and fulfill government service goals, at marginal cost to taxpayers
- Incentives to launch new, data-driven startup businesses in New York City, supporting job and economic growth.
- The ability for New Yorkers to more readily access and share New York City public information
- The opportunity for City, State, Federal, and international government agencies to share data and improve intra-government efficiency
- Greater potential for the NYC Big Apps contest, supporting developers in creating sustainable and marketable applications deeply integrated with New York City
- A more responsive, robust, engaging City web presence that better serves the needs of New Yorkers
OPEN GOVERNMENT IN AN OPEN AGE
BY CAROLE POST,
NEW YORK CITY CIO/COMMISSIONER, DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS
 FOR NEARLY A DECADE NOW, the Bloomberg Administration has been at the forefront of making New York City government more open and transparent than it has ever been. From the revolutionary Citywide Performance Reporting, 311 Service Request Map, and Enhanced 311 Reporting, to the award-winning NYCStat Stimulus Tracker, 311Online, and more, the amount of City information easily accessible via NYC.gov, today, far exceeds anything previously available in the City's long history - and compares favorably to that of any other city in the world. Now, as part of Deputy Mayor Goldsmith's Simplicity initiative, these and other enhancements continue to make City government more customer-focused, innovative, and efficient. Read More
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DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY HAS THE POTENTIAL to transform the experience of engaging with government by providing an accessible, citizen-centric customer service layer that helps to humanize and customize municipal functions around the individual. Digital engagement can act as a translation layer between public concerns and the agency processes that resolve them. And by leveraging widely used social media platforms, New York City government services can become seamlessly integrated into the lives of New Yorkers. As a result, government engages with members of the public on their terms and their most comfortable, native digital environment.
Digital as Translation Layer
MAINTAINING OUR DIGITAL PUBLIC SPACES
Maintaining digital 'public spaces' such as NYC.gov or 311 Online is equally important as maintaining physical public spaces like Prospect Park or the New York Public Library. Both digital and physical should be welcoming, accessible, cared for, and easy to navigate. Both must provide value to New Yorkers. And for both, regular stewardship and improvements are a necessity.
To illustrate the vast audience to New York City's significant digital public spaces, the following table compares traffic to Central Park and NYC.gov. Thirty-five million visit Central Park yearly, compared to a projected 33 million to NYC.gov. Soon traffic to NYC.gov will outpace Park traffic, illustrating the need to devote resources and community managers to our digital tools.
Digital technology enables a fundamental shift in the nature of government, from the consumption of services to the co-production of services with support from individuals, nonprofits, and businesses. Digital technology also ensures that citizens are connected not only to government, but to each other, fostering vibrant communities of civic engagement.
The following efforts to improve NYC.gov, 311 online, social media channels, and mobile presences will not only serve New Yorkers but engage them collaboratively in the development of New York City's future. Crucially, the City will also improve coordination across agencies and provide direction and training in the best practices of digital media engagement.
NYC.gov
NYC.GOV IS NEW YORK CITY government's face to the world. As the digital gateway to municipal government, the experience of using NYC.gov should be fast, intuitive, and effective, underscoring the City's commitment to customer service and efficiency. Public feedback and traffic patterns show that we can improve NYC.gov significantly through changes that organize information around user needs.
In partnership with DOITT, NYC Digital will design and execute enhancements that improve the NYC.gov user interface and make it more citizen-centric. It will also introduce an update plan to ensure that the website is able to deploy timely content changes, design conventions, and features on a regular basis.
REDESIGNING NYC.GOV
NYC Digital will work with usability experts, designers, and customer service professionals behind the world's most widely used platforms and mobile applications to develop a new, intuitive, citizen-centric user experience on NYC.gov. Top search queries, traffic patterns, external referring sites, and voluntary personalization will help to inform navigation elements.
NYC.gov Redesign Priorities
USABILITY
- Improved, consistent search experience using Google Site Search
- Refreshed homepage and navigation
- Refreshed header and footer with ability to broadcast emergency messages
- Refreshed agency template
- Mobile-first design methodology
- Usability benchmark: What you're looking for in three clicks or less.
- Navigation based on high-interest search queries
- Surveys for grading page effectiveness
STREAMLINING RESOURCES
- Consolidated resources based on function/interest, not agency
- Forms and Applications Machine Readable
- Sample of Streamlined Resources:
- Single Consolidated NYC App Store
- Improved Social Media Directory
- Citizen, Business and Government Toolkits
- Revamped CityStore
- Revamped Calendar with rss Feeds by Interest Area
- Google Maps integration with GIS
- Consolidated Jobs page
- Consolidated Bill Pay page
CUSTOMIZATION
- Internal keyword-based Public Service Announcement "ad" database, matching user search queries with relevant City programs
- Accessible to multiple ability levels and languages
- My NYC.gov: Single Sign-On for all applications and personalization of services
- Search Engine Optimization
SOCIAL MEDIA INTEGRATION
- Social Media Links to Representatives and Officials
- Revamp FAQs with Get Satisfaction
- Embedded live video streams and videos
- Social Media features to share useful pages
CREATIVE PROCESS
To mark the start of the process of reinvention, NYC Digital in partnership with DOITT, edc, and leading digital campus General Assembly, will host a development and design day, known as a "hackathon," titled Reinvent NYC.gov.
Reinvent NYC.gov will take place in early summer. The City invites user experience experts to apply for the event, which will feature two days of intensive design and development culminating in the launch of several functioning prototypes for the homepage of NYC.gov. Leading platforms including Google, Facebook, Foursquare and Twitter have committed to providing digital resources, such as api keys and onsite technical assistance, to support the development process.
The goals of Reinvent NYC.gov are threefold:
- Encourage innovation in open, citizen-centric government
- Leverage the world's leading usability experts, with experience serving millions
- Launch a design process based on usability and user needs, not government structure
All prototypes will launch with public analytics, allowing NYC government and the public to evaluate redesigns with full transparency.
Following the results of the initial competition, NYC Digital will identify highly performing models and work with an external usability team to design and develop a new interface, to be implemented in partnership with DOITT.
Social Media
AS PART OF ITS EXPANSION of citizen-centric digital resources, the City of New York will unveil new social media channels and platforms that support City goals of transparency, engagement, participation, and access to information.
DATA VISUALIZATION
Leveraging the api developed as part of its Open Government architecture, the City of New York and partner Socrata will launch data visualization tools that make the City's vast stores of public data accessible through charts and graphs that are easy to build, read, and share.
FACEBOOK
A new Facebook presence for the City of New York will be unveiled during Internet Week featuring applications and applets that support citizen engagement, transparency, crowdsourcing, and public service initiatives. Over time, citizens will have the opportunity to voice their opinions, engage in discussions, ask questions, access 311 information, and participate in citywide polls. The Facebook presence will also serve to update New Yorkers on news, announcements, and emergency information, via text and live video streams.
Beyond Facebook, the City will explore the use of social sharing features on NYC.gov to help more Facebook users discover valuable links and to identify the best-performing
City web pages.
TWITTER
A streamlined Twitter feed for @NYCgov that serves to aggregate all City info in a one-stop shop of high priority alerts, news and announcements. This feed will help to make it easier for New Yorkers to stay up-to-date on the most crucial New York City information, and to discover specialized Twitter feeds in the process.
BIT.LY
The City will immediately introduce a custom link generator provided by Bit.ly that streamlines the sharing and shortening of NYC.gov links. Users can also see how NYC.gov links are being shared, and identify the most useful information on NYC.gov.
FOURSQUARE
The City of New York will introduce a new Foursquare badge that incentives New Yorkers and visitors to go to New York City government public places, such as parks and cultural centers. In addition, agencies will provide tips on their locations spaces.
TUMBLR
Recognizing the growth of New York-based microblogging platform Tumblr, the City of New York will unveil a new curated New York City government vertical that highlights stories, photos, videos, and more from New Yorkers and City agencies.
NYC Simplicity
NYC Simplicity is the City's plan to simplify NYC government for businesses, non-profits, City employees, and all New Yorkers. The following digital projects are a sample of NYC Simplicity's plan to support customer-focused, innovative, efficient government.
CHANGE BY US NYC
Currently in beta, Change By Us is a collaborative platform for community projects that improve New York City. On Change By Us, New Yorkers suggest ideas, then join or form projects to make them a reality. Individuals can research the government and community organization resources they need to succeed, enabling a new model for crowdsourcing and innovation.
In partnership with PlaNYC, Change By Us will launch with sustainable development as its inaugural focus. Funded by the Rockefeller Foundation and Knight Foundation, and was developed by partners Local Projects and CEOs for Cities. http://changeby.us/beta
NYC SIMPLICITY IDEA MARKET
The NYC Simplicity Idea Market is a digital platform that invites City employees to suggest their ideas for improving government customer service and efficiency. Employees comment and vote on suggestions, and the best ideas are implemented by the City.
DATA ANALYTICS CENTER
The Mayor's Office of Operations plans to develop a Data Analytics Center that will leverage leading technology and New York City government data to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of service delivery and public resource allocation. The Data Analytics Center will achieve this by integrating a wide range of municipal information and analyzing performance.
Emergency Management and Digital Media
CROWDSOURCING AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT
The City's Office of Emergency Management (oem) will continue to explore opportunities that expand its ability to leverage digital media in the event of an emergency, integrating social media channels and public input into its systems. First, the City of New York will introduce a geo-targeted mobile emergency notification service in late 2011 called Personal Localized Alerting Network, or plan. The service is able to reach citizens based on their actual, real-time location, will not be stalled by user congestion, and carries messages from the President, Amber Alerts, and imminent threats to safety of life.
In addition, oem, DOITT, and NYC Digital will explore the ability to broadcast urgent updates across the City's 200 social media channels and 500,000 web pages.
To enable greater citizen input, the City will provide more channels that help citizens share crisis information and connect with officials and each other. To this end, crowdsourcing tools and projects under evaluation include Ushahidi, Google's People Finder, GroundCrew, Frontline sms, and CrisisCommons. The City of New York and 311 will also explore the use of crowdsourcing initiatives for non-emergency special events, such as VoteReport for elections.
CIVIC TECHNOLOGY TOOLS AND PARTNERSHIPS
The above list of social media platforms is far from exhaustive. There is a wide range of additional digital tools that the City of New York is currently evaluating for use by agencies, including platforms that support civic engagement, community, creativity, and sustainability, such as Catchafire, Kickstarter, Meetup, and SeeClickFix.
311
Today only 4% of requests to 311 are processed online. Resolving more 311 requests through the use of digital technology will lessen the burden on 311's traditional call center, improving customer service delivery for all New Yorkers through shorter 311 wait times, faster resolution of queries, and greater transparency.
EFFICIENCY
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Expansion of 311 Online Service Request Processing. While 311 Online enables citizens to report over 4,000 types of service requests digitally, there is a significant opportunity to expand this offering. For example, in the research component of this report, a frequent point of public feedback was the ability to submit noise complaints via digital channels, which is not currently supported. Other service request types that are not currently digitally supported include landlord complaints, sewer backup, illegal parking, and traffic signal defects. Typically, service requests are not digitally processable because of either policy or technology integration reasons at the agency level. Expanding digital functionality will require a joint effort to overcome these hurdles by both individual agencies and 311.
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Introduction of 311 API. 311 is currently developing an Application Programming Interface, or API, to enable the creation of newer tools and expand customer service. An API provides a set of directions that allow software applications to communicate with each other, enabling the development of a rich ecosystem of innovative applications, tools, and products that expand the reach and functionality of 311. The result of a widely used 311 API will be a more customized 311 experience, integrated into both new tools and the digital platforms that New Yorkers already use every day. Throughout its development process, 311 will continue to work with existing open API projects to share specifications and ensure interoperability.
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Crowdsourcing and Heatmaps. 311 will work with agency customer service representatives to explore ways to identify trending and recurring complaints, and develop stronger methods to identify duplicate complaints. This will ensure that the same site is not visited by multiple inspectors or multiple agencies.
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311 and Citywide CRM 311 is currently developing a citywide Citizen Relationship Management (CRM) system that enables agencies to track the path of service requests across multiple communications channels such as email, nyg.cov forms, and faxes, up to their ultimate 311 or agency resolution. This will improve the efficiency, accountability and, efficacy of the City's customer service. In future phases, the City will explore integrating this offering with service requests communicated via social media platforms, such as Facebook and twitter. The City will also evaluate the opportunity to present citizens with a personalized dashboard of their current and previous service request statuses, integrated with my.NYC.gov.
ACCESSIBILITY
Improved 311 Online Usability. In order to improve the effectiveness and experience of using 311 Online, NYC Digital and DOITT will work together to improve the accuracy of search results and enhance the user interface to provide a more intuitive navigation.
Expansion and Marketing of 311 Smartphone Applications. One of the top citizen requests was for a 311 iPhone application, revealing that most New Yorkers do not realize that a robust app already exists. DOITT will enhance its existing iPhone application to enable the processing of additional 311 service request types and introduce a version for Android. In addition, NYC Digital and MOME will help to publicize the application to increase the number of downloads. Currently about 16,800 311 iPhone applications have been downloaded.
Live Chat on 311 Online. Leveraging the knowledge base of its call center and SMS services via shortcode 311-692, and drawing from the best practices of the private sector, 311 will explore piloting real-time chat windows on 311 Online that allow users to immediately access information and express concerns, for faster resolution.
Expansion of @311NYC Twitter efforts. Through support from 311 and NYC Digital, the City will expand its resolution of 311 service requests via Twitter, enabling greater information exchange and awareness through this social forum. As Twitter engagement is publicly available, the result will be the organic development of a public, social media knowledge base that is accessible and searchable by all.
Mobile Engagement Everywhere
NEW YORK CITY GOVERNMENT RECOGNIZES the powerful reach and ubiquity of mobile technology. According to web analytics, a constantly increasing percentage of New Yorkers access digital City resources through mobile devices. The Pew Internet and American Life Project found in 2010 that there is a relatively higher level of cell phone internet use among African Americans, Latinos, young adults and those with lower levels of income and education. For example, 54% of African Americans and 53% of Latinos use a mobile phone to access the internet, 18% and 16% exclusively. Expanding mobile technology capabilities will enable New York City to serve more New Yorkers, more easily, in more places.
As part of its digital strategy, the City of New York will implement the following measures:
- Strategic, phased launch of mobile versions of NYC.gov at m.NYC.gov, ensuring access to all New Yorkers, across multiple platforms. The mobile site will be designed and implemented by NYC Digital and DOITT.
- Expansion of 311 iPhone application and launch for Android, led by DOITT.
- Enhancements to 311 sms services via 311-692.
- Mobile Video On-Demand and Live Video Streaming, supported by NYC Media and DOITT.
- Development of additional, official New York City mobile applications that serve and engage citizens by DOITT, agencies, and private partners.
- Launch of geo-targeted emergency mobile notification service by oem, called Personal Localized Alerting Network, or plan, which alerts individuals to imminent threats based on their proximity to an emergency area.
Taxis
 THERE IS A GREAT OPPORTUNITY to explore the technology interface available in our City's taxis as not just entertainment, but platforms for information exchange and co-creation. In the coming months, the City of New York will explore the opportunity to pilot tablet computer interfaces in taxis and announce a competition for featured applications, enabling developers to embrace the potential of this mobile, digital network.
In addition to its content platform, taxis will also provide mobile infrastructure to riders. Mobile charging stations equipped with 12V and USB ports will be one of the features of the Nissan NV200, which will become the exclusive City taxi in 2013.
Games
GAMES OFFER THE OPPORTUNITY to engage as they inform, providing compelling incentives to collaboratively craft civic solutions and learn about important public service initiatives. The City of New York recognizes this potential, and will introduce partnerships and contests for civic games that use the city for their platform. As an introductory step, in June 2011, NYC Digital will participate in the Games for Change summit, and announce new opportunities to the world-leading technologists there.
Licenses
IN ORDER TO SUPPORT CREATIVITY and transparency, the City of New York will explore the use where appropriate of Creative Commons licenses on content and information, enabling wider reach and engagement from the public.
Video Seemless Integration
DIGITAL VIDEO IS A CRUCIAL means of engaging and informing residents of important legislation, announcements, public service messages, and news. In order to make the experience of viewing and sharing video on NYC.gov faster and more accessible, DOITT will pilot free, third-party video players for video-on-demand and live video streaming. For maximum reach and convenience, the City will implement live video streaming and vod solutions that broadcast via mobile devices and smartphones. In line with this, the City will broadcast live video over enabled social networks, such as Facebook.
By no longer requiring the download or use of third-party applications, viewing video will be simpler and more immediate, and will encourage the seamless, social sharing of content. By enabling mobile viewing, the City will continue to create a more citizen-centric experience of New York City government that reaches the individual on his or her own terms.
Finally, to make it easier to stay informed, the City will email and tweet announcements of the start of live video broadcasts to those who request notifications.
Agency Coordination
THROUGHT THE FOLLOWING STEPS, NYC Digital will increase transparency, communication and collaboration across City agencies, improving the efficacy and strategic performance of the City's digital efforts in line with agency goals.
INTERNAL COORDINATION
Chief among proposals from social media and communications managers was the suggestion of enhanced digital coordination. In light of this, NYC Digital will launch the following within the next 90 days:
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Shared Calendars, enabling social media managers to stagger scheduling and support mutually beneficial initiatives by other agencies.
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Email Mailing List for employees responsible for executing social media channels on a day-to-day basis, for advisory updates on breaking news and emergency developments.
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Digital Toolkit—Best Practices Resources for sharing effective strategies, methodologies, answers to Frequently Asked Questions, and social media policies.
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Training Sessions by representatives of leading social media platforms on how to effectively leverage their tools in the private sector.
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Industry-leading Analytics Tools that allow every agency to easily and simply track their own progress in serving constituents.
NYC Digital will also work with DOITT over the coming six months to explore:
- A citywide Customer Relations Management tool, currently in development by DOITT, that allows individual citizen requests to be tracked across agencies up to resolution.
- Citywide Social Media Dashboard for all agencies, supporting metrics-based strategies tied to agency Key Performance Indicators.
- Citywide Email Management tools that provide agencies with greater design flexibility, control and specific analytics on the response to their messages and campaigns. As expressed earlier, more than 700,000 New Yorkers receive newsletter. Enhanced tools will enable agencies to track their effectiveness and the performance of campaigns. Market-leading tools will provide creative flexibility, analytics, and goal-tracking opportunities.
INTRODUCING SMART
NYC Digital will introduce the Social Media Advisory and Research Taskforce, or SMART. This body consists of 10 members elected every six months by social media managers across the city. SMART members are responsible for helping to manage citywide social media feeds including facebook.com/NYCgov and @NYCgov on Twitter, providing recommendations on social media tools and strategies, assisting emerging City agencies on social media, evaluating new social media platforms, updating social media guidelines and policies, and liaising with technology and legal authorities in the City.
| SMART Committee Inaugural Members |
Ryan Brack, DOE
Graham Buck, Mayor's Office
Chenda Fruchter, 311
Tom Hughes, DPR
Amanda Konstam |
John LaDuca, DOHMH
Robin Lester Kenton, DOT
Christopher Long, DOITT
Trista Sordillo, EDC
Chris Varley, OEM |
DIGITAL MEDIA AND BLOGGER OUTREACH
Communications Directors across the City recognize that while some constituents still receive news from traditional outlets such as newspapers and radio, many citizens are now accessing news via digital media outlets including blogs and online publications. NYC Digital will work with the Mayor's Office to help Communications Directors develop their own digital media database of online outlets, as well as a digital toolkit to accompany news announcements.
DIGITAL ADVERTISING
Today, the City of New York spends just 5% of its advertising budget on digital advertising. NYC Digital will work to increase that percentages to 25% over the next three years, leveraging banner advertisements and social media advertisements to measure effectiveness through metrics, and reach more New Yorkers with public service messages.
Community Engagement
THE COMMUNITY-FOCUSED FACT-FINDING mission that informed this report will continue, through input sessions both online and in-person. Our shared digital future in New York City will succeed only with support, input, and constructive direction from across society. To that end, the City of New York will continue the following community engagement efforts:
NYC DIGITAL MEETUP
NYC Digital and DOITT will host focused community workshops in different boroughs, addressing urgent needs and helping to develop solutions in collaboration with citizens.
TWITTER
The City will continue to field feedback using the #NYCgov hashtag.
QUORA
The City of New York will be present on Quora, answering questions relevant to the City's digital strategy.
TUMBLR
NYC Digital will actively engage the Tumblr community through the NYCgov.tumblr.com blog, showcasing updates on the City's digital strategy and soliciting feedback.
POLLS, SURVEYS AND BLOG INTERACTION
The City will continue to conduct surveys and polls to gather information.
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A GROWING DIGITAL SECTOR is crucial to a healthy economy, informed citizenry, and fertile environment for innovation. In line with this, the support of technology entrepreneurs and a strong industry is a major New York City government priority.
At the helm of this focus is the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC), which leads a range of initiatives to help equip startup technology companies with the tools, services, and infrastructure they need to grow and thrive. The NYCEDC studies the sector extensively, and recently introduced the NYCEDC Innovation Index, a method for measuring innovation using six dimensions: Research & Development, Finance, Human Capital, Intellectual Property, High-tech Gross City Product, and Entrepreneurship and Employment Dynamic.
 NYCEDC is a powerful advocate and supporter of the entrepreneurial community, providing information, training, investment, and competition-based incentives to entrepreneurs at every stage.
In addition to NYCEDC, the Department of Small Business Services (SBS), Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications (DOITT), and Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment (MOME) manage initiatives to support economic growth and workforce development.
The following plans illustrate upcoming measures to realize the potential of New York City's digital sector through measures to streamline the process of starting a new business, encourage a stronger engineering talent pool, attract more technology startups to the City, provide affordable workspace, and introduce the .nyc top-level domain to the world.
Internal Efficiency
SREAMLINING NEW BUSINESS CREATION
The Mayor's Office of Operations is currently exploring new ways to further streamline the process of starting a new business in New York City, whether digital or analog in nature. This activity will build on initiatives including the Business Express wizard for starting new businesses, and the New Business Acceleration Team, a taskforce that supports new businesses as the navigate the process of incorporating and securing necessary permits and licenses. The Mayor's Office of Operations is also focused on digitizing City-issued permits and licenses, and converting processes that require in-person registration to online formats, saving time and money for businesses and City employees.
WORKING WITH NEW YORK CITY
Responding to industry needs, the City of New York is working to lessen the hurdles and time required to work with the City while maintaining the standards and integrity of its process. One example of this focus is DOITT's spark (Speedy Procurement and Rapid Contracts) procurement initiative, developed with input from members of New York City's technology community. The program pre-approves vendors to shorten the duration of the vendor approval process, and tailors requirements to small developers. As the initiative is introduced to the private sector, DOITT will continue to meet with the developer community to solicit feedback and collaboratively shape the program.
In addition, the Department of Small Business Services (SBS) currently runs a range of initiatives that help small businesses navigate government contracting, including several devoted to minority- and women-owned companies. This year SBS will hold its fifth annual Procurement Fair, featuring workshops that help small business owners maximize return on investment from social media marketing.
CONTRACT VISIBILITY
In line with this, the City will also make new Requests for Proposals more visible via rss feeds, email alerts, and publicity. rfps identify upcoming funded City projects that require external development for implementation. Making them more visible will enable newer entrants to compete for contracts and allow for fresh innovation and development.
Industry Engagement
 ATTRACTING ENGINEERING TALENT
A strong engineering talent pool is integral to digital sector growth. As part of that goal, in December 2010, NYCEDC on behalf of Mayor Bloomberg invited leading institutions around the world to explore the opportunity to build or expand an applied sciences facility in New York City, leveraging City-owned property and a potential capital investment to augment their own. Twenty-seven academic institutions submitted 18 formal proposals in response to the Request for Expression of Interest.
As a next step, the City will issue a Request for Proposals in summer 2011, with the aim
to select a proposal by the end of 2011. Equipping New York City's future industry and workforce with an institution to cultivate expertise will help to fuel the City's innovation and economic growth.
INDUSTRY
BY: Seth W. Pinsky, President,
New York City Economic Development Corporation
 Today, New York City remains the leader in many major industries - from finance to fashion to media. But New York's role as the world capital of commerce cannot be taken for granted. As technology lowers barriers to entry, emerging cities are making significant investments in their economy, and, the competitive landscape is being remade on an almost daily basis. In order to compete internationally, therefore, we must adapt. That is why NYCEDC is so focused on supporting New York City businesses to help them compete in a world in which the only certainty is change. In so doing, we believe that we are positioning New York as the place for innovation - the business capital of the 21st Century. Read More
WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
NYCEDC will continue to expand FastTrac and JumpStart, innovative business training programs with tracks for both emerging and existing entrepreneurs interested in launching and growing their ventures. FastTrac and JumpStart provides this training at no cost, with support from the Department of Small Business Services, suny's Levin Institute, and the Kaufmann Foundation.
MOME will expand its Workforce Development programs, introducing new training and mentorship initiatives that increase diversity in the digital industry and connect trainees with employment opportunities.
DOITT will also help to expand diversity in the sector, through a partnership with the MOUSE Shadowship Program. This initiative matches high needs students with DOITT professionals, exposing them to a technology-based professional environment and future.
 RECRUITING
NYCEDC will continue to expand efforts that encourage more engineers to join New York City startups, and recruit more startup technology companies to headquarter and open additional offices in New York City. This initiative is already underway, and recently NYCEDC and a handful of local technology companies organized a successful recruiting visit to Boston. A keystone of this initiative will be ongoing outreach and listening sessions with private sector stakeholders including entrepreneurs, engineering institutions, and investors to analyze needs and evaluate progress.
.NYC
The City of New York is currently pursuing the introduction of the .nyc top-level domain, a global milestone that will enable innovation and digital services for residents, and economic advantages for businesses. New York City could be one of the world's first cities to operate its own top-level domain, presenting enormous opportunities. The .nyc domain will be administered by a private vendor to be selected by DOITT. The City is currently reviewing vendor candidates that responded to the City's initial Request for Proposals (rfp), and plans to submit its application for the .nyc top-level domain when the International Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (icann) opens the application process. icann's timeline is expected to be finalized after its official June 21, 2011 meeting, and the City of New York plans to apply when the application period opens. Only the vendor selected by New York City government will have the legal right to administer the .nyc domain.
ADVOCACY
Supporting and promoting New York City's digital sector has long been a City priority, and it will continue to celebrate thriving local digital companies.
To further support the industry, MOME will introduce a panel series featuring discussion and debate by digital thought leaders. MOME will also continue its involvement as a partner in Internet Week New York, a festival celebrating the Internet industry and community, which MOME has supported since its inception four years ago.
AFFORDABLE WORKSPACE
NYCEDC currently operates a number of affordable shared workspaces including HIVE at 55 for digital media professionals and 160 Varick Street Incubator. HIVE at 55 can accommodate 50 media professionals, while the Varick Street Incubator, at a starting rate of $200 per person per month, supports 35 startups. Both are equipped with Wi-Fi, conference rooms, and basic business services, at a rate accessible to emerging startups. NYCEDC will shortly open the Sunshine Bronx Business Incubator in partnership with shared office space provider Sunshine Suites, and has plans to open additional affordable workspaces in the coming months in Brooklyn.
 NYCEDC also supports independent incubators and workspaces and has provided grant funding to General Assembly, a successful “urban campus” for digital entrepreneurs.
In addition, as part of a new incentive program, MOME will create a digital media incubator and media center to support emerging digital media ventures. The incubator will provide workspace, infrastructure, and services to up to 200 digital media professionals. In the same facility, MOME will develop a media center for events, presentations, panels, lectures, and training in the digital sector.
INDUSTRY EVENTS AND COMPETITIONS
NYCEDC hosts a range of industry networking events for the digital sector such as the Startup Exchange. To encourage friendly competition and reward innovation, NYCEDC runs the highly successful NYC Big Apps contest and business plan competition NYC Next Idea. NYC Big Apps fulfills multiple City goals by incentivizing developers with $40,000 in prizes to create digital tools that serve New Yorkers using New York City government data provided by DOITT's NYC DataMine. NYC Big Apps is partly funded by NYCEDC partner bmw i-venture, which recently announced it will headquarter a $100 million investment fund in New York City.
FUNDING
To support early stage technology startups, NYCEDC recently partnered with FirstMark
capital to create the $22 million New York City Entrepreneurial Fund. Mayor Bloomberg
announced the fund's first investment in 2010 at TechCrunch Disrupt, investing in
MyCityWay, the winner of the 2009 NYC Big Apps Competition.
via nyc.gov
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