Meetup.nyc along with SayHello.nyc, hosted the NYC Changing Digital Landscape at Interface event space on March 10th, 2016. Clayton Banks of Silicon Harlem was a featured panelist.

Changing Digital Landscape NYC 2016

Overview
Meetup.nyc along with SayHello.nyc, hosted the NYC Changing Digital Landscape at Interface event space on March 10th, 2016.

The event highlighted all the changes happening in the NYC digital space. Covering wi-fi, hyper local ads, New York City Council tech initiatives, .nyc SEO value and how these changes are affecting everyone: regular people, start ups, small, medium and even large businesses.

These changes are blurring the lines between “tech” and “non-tech” in New York City, and creating an era of digital connectivity in the fastest evolving city in the world.

This drastic change is affecting everyone within the New York City community. With the changing digital landscape, it is interesting to see how local government is working to support and bolster this transition.

An expertly assembled panel of city officials and entrepreneurs spoke to an at-capacity room, with more than 150 people, on how a more connected New York ecosystem is affecting and benefiting all of us, especially NYC businesses. This is a tremendous increase from the previous year and a clear indicator of how the New York technological scene is not only evolving, but has become more involved.

New York City is currently one of the most tech innovative cities in the world, and it is trying to lengthen its lead with initiatives that affect every single person and business in the city. We can stop change, we can fight it or embrace it. The entirety of New York is embracing the change, and our line up of speakers brought the latest news and innovations to the fore front. This is the future of NYC and the people in the room live and breathe the tech changes.

Meet & Greet: Networking with CEO’s

There were business leaders from all walks of life at the event. Networking and talking with other business professionals, entrepreneurs, and city officials to over complimentary wine prior to the beginning of the panel.

Present were CEOs, CTOs, startup founders, small and medium sized business owners, digital agencies, creative directors, young opportunists, and everything in between. As the wine flowed, people were networking and having a great time, allowing for the perfect opportunity to really discover the effects of .nyc on other fields and businesses.

It was a rare chance for everyone across multiple industries to meet with the NYC Chamber of Commerce, to really understand the future of business in New York, and how they can be a part of it.

Opening Speakers

Drew Moffitt from NeedGrowth.com
Drew is a seasoned entrepreneur, veteran marketer, and prominent figure within the New York city tech community. He is a partner at NeedGrowth, where he works with startups, small businesses, and mid-cap companies to accelerate growth and revenue.

Speaking from a recent trend with NeedGrowth clients, Drew echoed the blurring of the lines between “tech” and “non-tech”. Describing it as a move towards a world where everything is redefined as industry + tech: AdTech, FinTech, etc.

Mark Jaffe from Greater New York Chamber of Commerce
Mark Jaffe is the President & CEO at the Greater New York Chamber of Commerce. A not-for-profit organization committed to serving over 30,000 business and civic leaders. In recent years, the Chamber has worked alongside mayors and government officials to champion technology within NYC. He is also a proud partner of the .nyc initiative, of which there are now over 90,000 domains.
Silicone Harlem

Clayton Banks – CEO at Silicon Harlem
Clayton Banks, founder of Silicon Harlem, and who has previously founded a software development company called Ember Media, is transforming Harlem into an innovation and technology hub in New York.

Their goal is to lead urban communities into the future of tech development and economic prosperity. His program began in 2013, when there were literally zero coworking spaces available in Harlem, but since then, 7 now exist. Silicon Harlem has received accolades from the Manhattan Burough Presidents office, The Rainbow Coaliton Wall Street Project ad the Inner City Foundation of New York.

Harlem has become the fastest growing tech community in Manhattan with the aid of Silicon Harlem, which has supported the growth of the technology startup and social venture sector as a part of advancing economic and social development in Upper Manhattan. The company has even developed educational programs for youth and adults alike, with the knowledge that for every tech job, five other ancillary jobs are created in the service sector.

Other Panelists:

Aileen Gemma Smith – CEO of Vizalytics Technology
Vizalytics was approached to partner with the New York City Mayor’s office of Technology and Innovation to build Neighborhoods.nyc, a website that draws from the Knowledge Graph to provide traffic, transit, quality of life, health, inspection, event, and other information about each of the more than 400 neighborhoods in the city’s five boroughs. The site allows, on the most local levels, for NYC residents to receive real time information allowing for safer, healthier lifestyles and fewer daily delays, without even having to download an app. The site runs in 13 different languages allowing for maximum connectivity for New Yorkers. Neighborhoods.nyc will be launching in late march 2016 (just a few weeks away!).

Stacey Levine – Communications Director at Intersection and LinkNYC
LinkNYC is the first of its kind communications network that will replace over 7,500 pay phones across the five boroughs with new structures called Links. Each Link will provide superfast, free public Wi-Fi, free phone calling, and device chargers along with tablets for Internet browsing, access to city services, maps and directions. The service is 200 times faster than the current public Wi-Fi, which is even faster than the speeds New Yorkers can purchase, and all 100% for free.

Erica Hatfield – Communication Director at Transit Wireless
Transit Wireless is the company that is impacting and connecting the two most important things to New Yorkers: the subway and their devices. Transit Wireless is outfitting all 279 underground subway stations with free cellular Wi-Fi. So far 147 stations are already live with the service in all of Queens, 14th St and up in Manhattan and through the Bronx. They are currently working on making Wi-Fi services available in downtown Manhattan and Brooklyn, so expect that soon.

Dmitry Dragilev – CEO at JustReachOut
In 2014 Dmitry used JustReachOut to scale a startup from 0 to 40M+ page views, which was later acquired by Google. JustReachOut helps people do smart PR and content maketing, and guides startups in the process of acquiring press outreach, a necessary step for any growing business. Dmitry has been doing marketing for over a decade, and has seen first hand how huge a game changer .nyc has been for New York City businesses and startups, as it is a tremendous marketing opportunity.

Erica Gonzalez – Digital Strategy Director at New York City Council
Erica Gonzalez is the senior advisor to the Speaker of the City Council. In April 2015, New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito introduced Council 2.0, a roadmap for making the Council more accessible and transparent through digital technology. This plan includes the “Council Labs” website, engagement through social media and SMS, and working with Open Data. It is a revolutionary way for NYC locals to get involved with how the city is run, since the Council carries equal weight to the Mayor’s administration. From new legislation, budgeting, and even land use, it is easier than ever for residents of New York City to know, and be involved with the evolution of this city.

Moderator
Erik Grimmelman – CEO at The New York Technology Council
Erik has served on the Counter-Terrorism Technology Oversight Panel, National Academy of Sciences, National Research Council, National Security Telecommunications.