COVID-19 Technology SWAT TEAM
Tech:NYC, alongside more than 20 member companies, helped New York State stand up a COVID-19 Technology SWAT Team to accelerate statewide response plans.
COVID ALERT NY
Tech:NYC and the New York State Department of Health, along with Google, Apple, Bloomberg Philanthropies, and a coalition of other technology and research partners, launched COVID Alert NY, the state’s official exposure notification app. Now downloaded more than one million times (a number that’s growing everyday), the app uses privacy-protecting Bluetooth technology to alert users who have been in close proximity to someone who tested positive for COVID-19 and offers guidance on how to minimize the risk of being exposed.
COmpany contributions
Innovation and adaptability define New York’s tech community. That culture inspired a rapid call to action from entrepreneurs, engineers, and creatives alike, when they saw New Yorkers hurting during the coronavirus pandemic. Whether by helping our hospitals, schools, small businesses, or our most vulnerable communities, New York’s tech sector has been at the forefront of the city’s response. Tech:NYC members gave back on several initiatives, helping secure PPE, providing meals to those in need, and helping source tech devices for students and others. Here’s our directory of many of the ways our members helped.
CIVIC ENGAGEMENT
ADVOCACY AT EVERY LEVEL
In 2020, Tech:NYC continued to lead on tech industry ideas and legislation. But we also built broad, cross-industry coalitions on issues directly affecting tech companies. Tech:NYC and its members were also represented in several advisory groups and coalitions to directly advise city and state government of response, reopening, and recovery efforts. Additionally, we testified at more than ten legislative hearings and forums and engaged with more than 20 federal, state, and local elected officials and public leaders. Some of those leaders are below.
Functions.nyc
We revamped Functions.NYC, a series of conversations we launched last year, to bring together ideas on NYC’s pandemic recovery efforts. This year’s (virtual) series paired a tech leader with a civic leader to talk with our community about some of the systems that make our city function — transit, public safety, sustainability, and the restaurant industry — and what tools we need to support its post-pandemic recovery.
INVESTING IN NY TALENT
Plugging In and TECHSKILLS.NYC
Tech:NYC, together with the Center for an Urban Future, published the first comprehensive analysis of 500+ tech training and education programs citywide aimed at expanding access to careers in the tech sector. The report draws from more than 130 interviews with tech executives, skills-building programs directors, educators, city officials, nonprofit leaders, researchers, and philanthropic funders. The report was generously supported by Robin Hood Learning + Technology Fund, Google, Bloomberg, and Verizon. See the full report.
Using the key data and findings from the Plugging In report, we also launched techskills.nyc, an interactive mapping tool of those programs, alongside more than 70 in-depth profiles of programs across all five boroughs. The tool also outlines key policy recommendations for policymakers on how to close the opportunity gap in tech.
Summer Bridge
NYC’s Summer Youth Employment Program, Summer Bridge 2020, went remote this year, and Tech:NYC quickly mobilized 100 NYC tech companies to provide project-based learning opportunities to NYC youth. Additionally, Tech:NYC and other donors provided funding to ensure the program’s 35,000 participants had reliable access to technology so there was no interruption in their career development experience while working remotely.
NYC CS FAIR
The NYC Computer Science Opportunity Fair (CS Fair) is New York City's largest annual college and career inspiration event for public high school students studying computer science. In light of the pandemic, together with our partners and the NYC Department of Education, we transformed the fair into a two-day virtual event that brought together public high school students with much of our ecosystem, including Tech:NYC member companies, CS education nonprofits, and universities to host virtual booths, webinars, and other interactive digital experiences. The students made visits to the virtual booths 18,000 times and sent out more than 5,000 messages over the event’s community live chat.