On Thursday, June 20, 2024, New York City (NYC) Chief Technology Officer Matthew C. Fraser and the Mayor’s Office of Ethnic and Community Media hosted a roundtable discussion on the government’s technology achievements.
Under Mayor Adams’ Administration, New York City is leading the nation in responsible use. artificial intelligence (artificial intelligence), providing free internet to more residents than any other American city through Big Apple Connect, and making it easier than ever for New Yorkers to access child care subsidies and apply for jobs on MyCity. New York City Chief Technology Officer Matthew Fraser spoke about these groundbreaking initiatives and his vision for the future of technology in New York City.
In January 2022, Mayor Adams signed Executive Order 3 to consolidate the City’s technology agencies under one umbrella: the Office of Technology Innovation (OTI). OTI includes the City’s cybersecurity, information privacy, data, IT, communications, and NYC311 operations. By streamlining efforts and breaking down silos, OTI aims to improve service delivery, democratize technology, and keep New Yorkers and their data safe.
The main initiatives are::
Creating Big Apple Connect: The nation’s largest municipally subsidized broadband program provides free in-home internet and basic cable TV access to 330,000 New Yorkers at 220 NYCHA sites. For more information about participating sites, please visit: here.
MyCity Launch: It provides a one-stop shop for essential City services and benefits, making it easier for New Yorkers to access child care subsidies, information on owning and operating a business, and find work and workforce development opportunities. MyCity serves working-class families and entrepreneurs in the City’s 10 most common non-English languages. To learn more, visit MyCity.
- Since MyCity launched, almost 70,000 accounts have been created and almost 50,000 applications submitted, resulting in 30,000 children receiving grant funding that would have been difficult to obtain otherwise, or may not have been available at all.
- MyCity has been expanded with a redesigned JobsNYC website and a new business site featuring the city’s first AI-powered chatbot. To date, the chatbot has fielded approximately 21,000 inquiries in the city’s 11 most common languages.
Announcement of Japan’s first artificial intelligence action plan: It is designed to advance the effective and responsible use of AI across City government. AI will help keep New Yorkers safe, optimize City services to be more efficient, save taxpayers money, and better connect residents to essential services. To learn more about our progress, please visit: here.
Conference Q&A Session:
- Is broadband currently considered a basic service? NYCHA, shelters, and other City facilities have broadband available.
- Does this program tell me if I’m approved for one service and I’m eligible for other City programs? Once you enroll in the system, the eligibility tracker will let you know which services are available to you.
- How is the city using AI to help New Yorkers and how do you plan to implement it in the future? Currently, AI is used for cybersecurity. Every week, about 90 billion cyber events (threats) are filtered by AI, which extracts about 50 that require further review and helps determine what is important and what is not. AI helps keep New Yorkers safe and is also used in many other sectors, such as the healthcare sector.
- What is your office’s budget and staffing? OTI has about 1,700 employees, compared with about 7,000 tech employees in New York City total. The budget was not disclosed in the interview and was not available at the time of publication.
One key takeaway is that AI has been around for years, and New York City continues to leverage it to provide services, access, and opportunities in the digital world, benefiting many New Yorkers who are not fully aware of these advancements.
