Tech And The City

Over 1,000 New York-based technology startups are currently hiring. This may come as a surprise to many who thought of New York as the capital of traditional industries such as financial services, media, advertising and fashion, but not necessarily as a high-tech hub. Yet, it is true: over the past several years the level of startup activity in the city of New York has increased at an exponential rate, reaching and surpassing Boston in number of tech companies formed and money invested. It is good news for the Bloomberg administration that has made the creation of a high-tech industry a strategic priority after the financial collapse of 2008. It is also good news for the many investors in the city (both "angels" and venture capitalists) who have seen the number of opportunities created increase at a fast rate. And it is good news for the entrepreneurs who can finally benefit from a working ecosystem and from an influx of capital not seen since the internet bubble of the late '90s. "Tech and the City" is the first book telling the story of how and why this is happening: from the birth of Silicon Alley in the '90s to today's level of activity and important milestones, such as the building of the Cornell NYC Tech campus. Based on over 50 interviews with entrepreneurs, angel investors, venture capitalists, university professors, members of the Bloomberg administration and other stakeholders, this book's objective is to inform and inspire the current generation of entrepreneurs. Fred Wilson, the best known venture capitalists in New York and one of the most important in the US, wrote in his foreword: "I hope this book will be an inspiration to New Yorkers to embrace the technology revolution that has taken hold in our city. I also hope it will be an inspiration to other cities, countries, and cultures who may have missed out on the initial wave of the technology revolution." "Tech and the City" takes us on a historical and geographical tour of New York, while addressing the hot themes for entrepreneurs and investors. It is also a guide to help navigate the NYC community: how to network and become part of the community; what to read to understand and keep informed; where to raise capital; what help is available for any professional, entrepreneur, student, researcher seeking to settle in the city. And this is just the basis for an ongoing conversation, which we hope will continue on our blog, http: //www.tech-and-the-city.com The authors, Alessandro Piol and Maria Teresa Cometto, know the story and the industry well. Alessandro has been a New Yorker for 35 years and a venture capitalist for 20, during which he has seen firsthand the evolution of the New York entrepreneurial ecosystem. He has a deep knowledge of the tech industry and a passionate involvement in the NYC community, where he invests in, and mentors, a number of young entrepreneurs. Maria Teresa Cometto is a journalist and award-winning author based in New York since 2000, covering business and high-tech for the largest Italian daily, Corriere della Sera, and for other important publications.

The contributions in this volume map out how technologies are used and designed to plan, maintain, govern, demolish, and destroy the city. The chapters demonstrate how urban technologies shape, and are shaped, by fundamental concepts and principles such as citizenship, publicness, democracy, and nature. The many authors herein explore how to think of technologically mediated urban space as part of the human condition. The volume will thus contribute to the much-needed discussion on technology-enabled urban futures from the perspective of the philosophy of technology. This perspective also contributes to the discussion and process of making cities ‘smart’ and just. This collection appeals to students, researchers, and professionals within the fields of philosophy of technology, urban planning, and engineering.

You hear a lot these days about "innovation and entrepreneurship" and about how "good jobs" in tech will save our cities. Yet these common tropes hide a stunning reality: local lives and fortunes are tied to global capital. You see this clearly in metropolises such as San Francisco and New York that have emerged as "superstar cities." In these cities, startups bloom, jobs of the future multiply, and a meritocracy trained in digital technology, backed by investors who control deep pools of capital, forms a new class: the tech-financial elite. In The Innovation Complex, the eminent urbanist Sharon Zukin shows the way these forces shape the new urban economy through a rich and illuminating account of the rise of the tech sector in New York City. Drawing from original interviews with venture capitalists, tech evangelists, and economic development officials, she shows how the ecosystem forms and reshapes the city from the ground up. Zukin explores the people and plans that have literally rooted digital technology in the city. That in turn has shaped a workforce, molded a mindset, and generated an archipelago of tech spaces, which in combination have produced a now-hegemonic "innovation" culture and geography. She begins with the subculture of hackathons and meetups, introduces startup founders and venture capitalists, and explores the transformation of the Brooklyn waterfront from industrial wasteland to "innovation coastline." She shows how, far beyond Silicon Valley, cities like New York are shaped by an influential "triple helix" of business, government, and university leaders--an alliance that joins C. Wright Mills's "power elite," real estate developers, and ambitious avatars of "academic capitalism." As a result, cities around the world are caught between the demands of the tech economy and communities' desires for growth--a massive and often--insurmountable challenge for those who hope to reap the rewards of innovation's success.

The interplay between smart urban technologies and city development is a relatively uncharted territory. Technology and the City aims to fill that gap, exploring the growing importance of smart technologies and systems in contemporary cities, and providing an in-depth understanding of both theoretical and practical aspects of smart urban technology adoption, and its implications for our cities. Beginning with an elaboration of the historical significance of technologies in economic growth, social progress and urban development, Yigitcanlar introduces the most prominent smart urban information technologies. The book showcases significant smart city practices from across the globe that uses smart urban technologies and systems most effectively. It explores the role of these technologies and asks how they can be adopted into the planning, development and management processes of cities for sustainable urban futures. This pioneering volume contributes to the conceptualisation and practice of smart technology and system adoption in our cities by disseminating both conceptual and empirical research findings with real-world best practice applications. With a multidisciplinary approach to themes of technology and urban development, this book is a key reference source for scholars, practitioners, consultants, city officials, policymakers and urban technology enthusiasts.

Why technology is not an end in itself, and how cities can be “smart enough,” using technology to promote democracy and equity. Smart cities, where technology is used to solve every problem, are hailed as futuristic urban utopias. We are promised that apps, algorithms, and artificial intelligence will relieve congestion, restore democracy, prevent crime, and improve public services. In The Smart Enough City, Ben Green warns against seeing the city only through the lens of technology; taking an exclusively technical view of urban life will lead to cities that appear smart but under the surface are rife with injustice and inequality. He proposes instead that cities strive to be “smart enough”: to embrace technology as a powerful tool when used in conjunction with other forms of social change—but not to value technology as an end in itself. In a technology-centric smart city, self-driving cars have the run of downtown and force out pedestrians, civic engagement is limited to requesting services through an app, police use algorithms to justify and perpetuate racist practices, and governments and private companies surveil public space to control behavior. Green describes smart city efforts gone wrong but also smart enough alternatives, attainable with the help of technology but not reducible to technology: a livable city, a democratic city, a just city, a responsible city, and an innovative city. By recognizing the complexity of urban life rather than merely seeing the city as something to optimize, these Smart Enough Cities successfully incorporate technology into a holistic vision of justice and equity.

Is a widening “skills gap” in science and math education threatening America’s future? That is the seminal question addressed in The U.S. Technology Skills Gap, a comprehensive 104-year review of math and science education in America. Some claim this “skills gap” is “equivalent to a permanent national recession” while others cite how the gap threatens America’s future economic, workforce employability and national security. This much is sure: America’s math and science skills gap is, or should be, an issue of concern for every business and information technology executive in the United States and The U.S Technology Skills Gap is the how-to-get involved guidebook for those executives laying out in a compelling chronologic format: The history of the science and math skills gap in America Explanation of why decades of astute warnings were ignored Inspiring examples of private company efforts to supplement public education A pragmatic 10-step action plan designed to solve the problem And a tantalizing theory of an obscure Japanese physicist that suggests America’s days as the global scientific leader are numbered Engaging and indispensable, The U.S. Technology Skills Gap is essential reading for those eager to see America remain a relevant global power in innovation and invention in the years ahead.

Do you know that the smart city is here now? Most cities want to be a smart city and they are looking for technology to save them. I once saw a TED talk where they described a smart city as being the way the buildings are built. Let me tell you something, the buildings are constructed in these cities. While it would be wonderful to plan a smart city from scratch, it's not the reality of the cities out there. They intend to improve the existing city infrastructure, which is no easy task. That's the purpose of this book, to help you work with cities and have them develop their smart city initiatives. Develop a plan! That is why I put together the Smart City Tech Planning Handbook. Learn this! What is a Smart City? How do you plan the Smart City infrastructure? Where do you start when developing the smart city? What planning is involved? Whom should I partner with? What about permitting, rent, acquisition, construction planning? Whom should we work with? Learn all this and more from case studied and deployment planning. The rest is up to you!

This book looks at what makes a city smart by describing, challenging, and offering democratic alternatives to the view that the answer begins and ends with technology. Drawing on worldwide case studies documenting the redevelopment of old and the creation of new cities, it provides an essential guide to the future of urban life in a digital world.